Deion Sanders unfazed by bandwagon media: "As quick as they love, they can hate"

Coach Prime ready to take his Buffaloes team to the next level on Saturday

Deion Sanders says the love & hate relationship with national media is natural /

Deion Sanders has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. As the Colorado Buffaloes head into a critical matchup against 18th-ranked Kansas State, Sanders is fully aware of the noise surrounding him and his team in the national media. However, he remains unfazed.

"I really don't care honestly," Sanders said in a press conference on Tuesday. "Because as quick as they jump on they can jump off. As quick as they support, they try to dismantle. As quick as they love, they can hate." His words capture the fickle nature of media attention, something Sanders knows well from his long career in both football and baseball.

The Buffaloes entered the 2024 season with a surge of hype, partly due to Sanders' high-profile coaching style and the team's remarkable turnaround under his leadership. However, the season has had its ups and downs, and the pressure is mounting as they prepare for Kansas State on Saturday night.

A win against the Wildcats could propel Colorado back into the AP Top 25, a ranking they haven’t held in over a year. Sanders understands that, while media attention can be a powerful tool for generating excitement, it can just as quickly turn into criticism if expectations aren’t met.

Saturday's game is also notable because it continues a historic streak of sellouts for the Buffaloes. The Kansas State contest will be the third game to sell out this season, joining the Homecoming game against Baylor and the upcoming Family Weekend matchup against Cincinnati on October 26.

The sellout marks the first time in 21 seasons that Colorado has seen multiple sellouts in back-to-back years, signaling the heightened interest in the program during Sanders' tenure. From 1989 to 1997, the Buffaloes had multiple sellouts in every season, a total of 32 in a 54-game stretch. Sanders is bringing back that level of excitement to Boulder.

In fact, this will be the fifth consecutive sellout the Buffs have played in front of, whether at home or away, tying the second-longest streak in the school’s history. In the "Coach Prime Era," 16 of 18 games have been sellouts, proving that Sanders’ impact goes beyond just the wins and losses—he's transformed the Buffaloes into a must-watch team. The question now is whether they can maintain that momentum on the field.