After finishing the 2024 season at 4-8, expectations were low for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes entering the new campaign. But that didn’t stop Fox Sports personality Mike Hill from being the lone person to give them a vote in the preseason AP Poll. And he doubled down after Week 1.
Colorado escaped with a victory in their nationally televised season opener against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State last Thursday. Although Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were spectacular, many of the same issues that plagued Colorado last season emerged once again in Week 1 as they fell short of covering an 11.5 point spread in a 31-26 victory.
In spite of a result that failed to impress, Hill once again ranked Colorado 25th in his AP Poll after Week 1 as the ballot was released on Tuesday. And in a post on X (formerly Twitter) Hill basically admitted that his vote was a message to the “haters” of the Colorado program. In fact, he is reveling in the ability to do so.
There are enough haters of @CUBuffsFootball cu of their “personal” bias of @DeionSanders If not, no one would even care if they got an AP preseason vote or after week 1. Who’s it affecting? It just exacerbates their hate & I’m loving it. I also believe their better than expected
— Mike Hill (@ItsMikeHill) September 3, 2024
As has been noted previously, Hill has a personal relationship with Sanders, providing the voiceover for his book and being a vocal supporter of his at Colorado. Sanders has had a tumultuous time with local media in Denver, feuding with reporters and banning columnists. But it’s clear he at least still has one supporter in Mike Hill. If and when Colorado starts to fall off, it’ll be interesting to see if the votes continue or if there will be a line drawn somewhere.
UNLV was the only other team to only receive a lone vote this week thanks to Sean Reider of the Albuquerque Journal, but at least they beat an FBS team on the road, winning 27-7 at Houston.
