As spring practices come to a close, the Colorado Buffaloes and their head coach Deion Sanders continue to be a hot topic in college football. Despite this, ESPN’s post-spring SP+ rankings project the Buffs to be average in their second year under Coach Prime. The system uses returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history to determine each program’s ranking based on offense, defense, and special teams.
SP+ is a measure of football efficiency that takes into account tempo and opponent adjustments. It is a predictive measure based on sustainable and predictable aspects of the game. ESPN analyst Bill Connelly uses this system to rank teams early in the offseason, and currently has the Buffs ranked No. 69 out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, with a -2.5 point differential. The offense is rated at No. 46 with a score of 31.2, while the defense is ranked at No. 105 with a score of 33.6. The special teams are ranked at No. 74 with a score of 0.0.
Due to the inconsistency of Colorado’s offense and defense last season, these rankings are not surprising
