Deion Sanders on late-night kickoffs: 'Dumbest thing ever'

Don't try to sell Colorado coach Deion Sanders on the benefit of the television exposure generated by the Pac-12's nighttime games.

The Buffaloes play host to Stanford on Friday, with kickoff at 8 p.m. local time in Boulder, Colo.

"Who makes these 8 o'clock games? That is the dumbest thing ever," Sanders said Tuesday on his weekly local radio appearance. "It's the stupidest thing ever in life. Who wants to stay up until 8 o'clock for a dern game? What about the East Coast? Do they even care about ratings or anybody watching it?"

Noting that his players will be in a hotel leading up to the game, as is typical ahead of home contests, Sanders said, "What are we supposed to do with the kids all day until 8 o'clock? What are we supposed to do all day until 8 o'clock? What are you supposed to do in the hotel? What are you supposed to do all day?"

He later added, "Thank God we're not going to be in this conference (beyond this season)."

Colorado announced this summer it is leaving the Pac-12 and returning to the Big 12 for the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year. Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 in 2011.

Colorado played one late-night game already this season, and it stretched past 2 a.m. ET. The Buffaloes emerged with a 43-35, double-overtime victory over Colorado State on Sept. 16. That contest drew ESPN's highest-ever viewership for a late-night college football game, 9.3 million.

The Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) bounced back from consecutive losses to beat Arizona State 27-24 last week. Stanford (1-4, 0-3) won its opener at Hawaii but has since lost four in a row, including a 42-6 blowout against visiting Oregon last weekend.

—Field Level Media