BOULDER, Colo. — For the first time since 1996, ESPN's College GameDay is in Boulder, Colorado, and the Buffs are on everyone's lips in the college football world.
"I think it's a wonderful thing because if it wasn't for Deion Sanders, Coach Prime, and Colorado, it would be a boring a** beginning to the college football season, where we talk about the same old crap," former Heisman Trophy winner and current GameDay analyst Desmond Howard said. "So, this is refreshing, it's new, it's exciting, and it's great for the sport."
Rece Davis, the host of College GameDay, said this is most compelling story in all of sports right now.
"The fact that they are the number one story the first two weeks of the season speaks for itself," he said. "I called a game here probably in 2013 or '14 on a Thursday night and you could've thrown rocks into the stadium and not hit anybody."
The culture has changed in Boulder nearly overnight, and the Prime Effect that you're seeing all around is not something that experts think can be replicated by any other person.
"There's such a recognition there that I think it's really compelling," Davis said. "So that part of it, I think would be really hard to replicate. Also, you can't just be a star athlete and say, 'hey, I'm going to go do what Deion Sanders did,' because he also just happens to be a terrific coach."
But hey, isn't this also a rivalry game? Davis said he would be disingenuous if he said they were here for the Rocky Mountain Showdown, but also said this is a huge opportunity for the Rams to show out on the biggest stage.
"For the rivalry to get on the stage, Colorado State is going to have to hold up its end of the bargain a little bit, but I don't want to give away too much but you guys probably know, typically, ranked versus unranked in this series has favored the unranked."
"It's a grand opportunity for them, there's no doubt about this, because there's going to be a big spotlight on this game. Everyone's here this weekend and everyone has descended upon Boulder for this Rocky Mountain Showdown. So this is a huge opportunity for Colorado State and their program and their team."
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