Shedeur Sanders: 'I know we're everybody's Super Bowl'

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is embracing the pressure to help the Buffaloes live up to the high expectations ahead of the 2024 season.

"It been there since Day 1," Sanders said Wednesday, according to Karter Baughan of the "KarterKast" podcast. "I remember first media day when I was in HBCU, I said, 'We won't lose a game.' I'm undefeated in a SWAC. So, I already know what the expectation comes with.

"I know we're everybody's Super Bowl, so I always stay level-headed and stay grounded because I would never want to be that guy looking back and not being able to take advantage of the moment that we have right now."

Colorado became one of the nation's most talked-about teams last year after the arrival of head coach Deion Sanders, who'd previously posted a successful three-season stint at Jackson State. Coach Prime brought in several players with him, including two-way star Travis Hunter and his sons, Shedeur and Shilo Sanders.

The Buffaloes had a promising start in Year 1 with Sanders on the sideline, winning their first three games of the 2023 campaign. However, as the competition became tougher, Sanders and Co. won just one of their final nine games and finished with a 4-8 record.

Colorado rosters established stars in Hunter and Shedeur but had another offseason with significant roster changes. The Buffaloes ranked 11th in this year's Big 12 media preseason poll.

Safety Shilo Sanders believes Colorado's roster overhaul this offseason will actually help improve the team's morale and chemistry in 2024.

"As a team, you've got to be able to bond and can't have no hate toward each other," he said Wednesday, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "You can't (have) poison. We got rid of a lot of poison last year. And this year, we're in a better space, clicking as a team, and we expect to win."

Deion Sanders described his new-look roster as "phenomenal" Wednesday.

Colorado will face North Dakota State on Aug. 29 to kick off its 2024 season.