Petty Pac-12 ends Coach Prime’s Week 0 fun, Buffs schedule stays as is

The Pac-12 finally made the national championship game… rather one of their schools now employs a head coach famous enough to get air time during the festivities.

Oregon made the first National Championship Game since the change to the College Football Playoff but the Pac-12 hasn’t been back since. So new Colorado coach and legendary former athlete Deion Sanders appearing on the broadcast was a big moment for the Buffaloes and their conference. Coach Prime used the opportunity to drop the news that Colorado was working on a Week 0 game against Arizona State.

Those plans are over, according to Brandon Marcello of 247 Sports who reports:

The Pac-12 has nixed plans for an early sneak peek at the Deion Sanders era with a Week 0 matchup between Colorado and Arizona State to open the 2023 season, a source told 247Sports on Wednesday…

The Pac-12 approached teams with an opportunity to play Colorado in a Week 0 game to capitalize on Sanders’ debut as the Buffaloes’ head coach. Arizona State jumped at the opportunity, sources told 247Sports

The Coach Prime era opening with a winnable conference game would’ve just added to the fun start of the Buffs schedule. CU has already been slated for a road trip to Dallas to take on the CFP’s runner-ups TCU on Sept. 2, followed by hosting of rivals Nebraska on Sept. 9 and Colorado State on Sept. 16.

Apparently, the Pac-12 still doesn’t like cool things, even with Larry Scott out of the building. George Kliavkoff’s conference has chosen the petty path of punishing Coach Prime for the best free promotion they could’ve asked for. Instead of lauding Prime and the Buffs, they’ve chosen to big time the first-year CU head coach, who “prematurely leaked” the news. Because why should the largest college football audience of the year know about the start of next season beginning with a Power Five matchup?

Meanwhile ESPN is reporting that it was the NCAA who didn’t allow the waiver due to the Buffs playing too many games in a row. Albeit the Pac-12 slate has not come out yet so their bye week would seem moveable still.

FOC ruled yesterday that since many teams play nine-straight weeks, that was too big of a exception loophole to open. Coach Prime mentioned this possibility to @KirkHerbstreit and Co. on @CollegeGameDay on Monday. The parties were informed earlier today.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 11, 2023

The whole Buffs schedule is expected sometime this week. They’ll host Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford and USC in conference play. While they’ll travel to Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA, Utah and Washington State.

So on a slight positive note: for those Buffs fans who like to travel, at least you’ll be hitting Tempe when the weather is better, rather than the scorching last week of August.

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