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Mind of Mike: Is it Crumbling in Boulder?
© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Is it crumbling in Colorado already? After a 4-8 season (1-8 in conference) but with some impressive improvements (losing by less, competitive, supposed elite portal class), the 2024 season was filled with promise. While the Deion Sanders cult fan base predicted a Big 12 title, even those critics like myself felt 7-5 or 8-4 was possible with a lesser schedule in a new conference and an improved roster. But now? I’m not so sure.

QB Shedeur Sanders is still there, as is two-way star Travis Hunter , while the other Sanders, Shilo, quarterbacks the defense at safety. But what about the rest? What about depth? There are so many questions, and more arise each day.

The portal hasn’t been kind to Deion, which is somewhat ironic since he made it his best friend. He filled around 80% of his roster with it in year one, and now many of those players, notably guys like RB Dylan Edwards, LB Demouy Kennedy, and RB Alton McCaskill. And the loss of CB Cormani McClain, a 5-star out of high school, stings as well.

Deion defenders will claim these guys don’t matter. They didn’t want to compete, were immature, or had some other excuse. And honestly, I don’t think they are losing a ton of talent. McClain has promise and potential, and Edwards is good and all, but overall, the losses aren’t that big. But what does that say? It means the players Deion has brought in aren’t that good, so what makes us think this new crop of transfers will be any good either? That’s the problem with the transfer portal, most of the kids Deion fans claim didn’t want to work or weren’t fits are kind of the makeup of most portal kids right? They are leaving for different reasons so you’re taking on baggage — and it’s not Louis Vuitton.

This is the problem with the portal. Kids are in there for a reason, and it’s buyer beware. For every star you find, there are 4-5 that won’t pan out, and finding the impact Florida State found en route to an undefeated season is beyond rare, as we’ve seen.

So yes, it could be crumbling. A case can be made the roster is better than last year, and more additions are on the way as well. But a case can easily be made the roster is the same or even worse than last year with as many question marks about depth as ever before.

Spin it however you want, Deion fans will…

But this is getting concerning.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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