Op-Ed: ESPN hurting themselves by pushing Deion Sanders and Buffs to 'After Dark' slot

Coach Prime isn't going to be happy with another after midnight ending

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders wasn't wrong when he said 'Pac-12 After Dark' was the "Dumbest thing ever." And yet again, ESPN doesn't see the value of the 'Prime Effect' by pushing the Buffs to a late night time slot with 11th-ranked Oregon State.

We understand that's a 7:20 p.m. local kickoff for Beavers fans, but they're not even close to being a majority of the television audience. Neither are Colorado fans in this equation. The Buffaloes are now a national brand (mostly thanks to Sanders), with the top markets being Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and Denver not far behind. Not to mention New York and Houston up there as well. 

It's a huge miss for CU Football not to be seen during the day, and whether the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" realizes it or not is debatable. The decision makers at Disney would rather put No. 5 Washington at No. 24 USC on ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT, with the Los Angeles and Seattle markets going up against two top 25 battles in the SEC. 

Why not put a significant rating grabber like Sanders and the Buffs in a head-to-head battle with SEC on CBS? They'll have a doubleheader with No. 16 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia at 3:30 p.m. followed by No. 15 LSU at No. 9 Alabama at 7:45 p.m. ET.

The 10 p.m. ET kickoff is an audience killer and caters to the "West Coast" that has never shown up for the Buffs this year. Also, this means a 2:30 a.m. press conference for us in the media with Coach Prime, who will likely crash in his office afterwards. 

A pretty pathetic set of plans, especially If you swap Colorado-OSU for Washington-USC, it makes sense all the way around. The Buffs would be on a national network against arguably the Pac-12 strongest team, and the highest-ranked conference team faces a built-in powerhouse with very little competition at 7 p.m. PT. 

It's nice to have Michael Penix vs. Caleb Williams in a Heisman matchup... But you can't be scared to put college football's top money maker up against the primetime offerings of the SEC. The majority of the country wants to watch Colorado and Sanders at a decent hour. Thankfully, it will happen next year.