Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, also commonly known as Coach Prime, said Tuesday he still believes the Buffaloes can qualify for the College Football Playoff in 2024.

When asked by Skip Bayless if he was “sticking by” his assertion that Colorado can make it into the expanded, 12-team playoff next season, Sanders said he was.

“Yeah, most definitely. Shoot, I believe, man. I don't just wear this on my shirt and on my chest. I truly believe that what we have in-house — last year, Key[shawn Johnson] watched all these games; we were seven points away from a multitude of wins, probably seven or eight more wins. We just didn't know how to win,” Sanders said.

“We got our butts kicked twice. We got our butts really kicked twice. There wasn't no winning. When we walked in, there was 30 on the scoreboard. But several of those games, we could've won those games. We could've really been — definitely a bowl team — but we could've been someone who made a lot of noise. We made noise, but now, we gonna make some sounds.”

Is Colorado a playoff contender?

Colorado has self-reported minor NCAA violations that occurred in the first season of Deion Sanders's tenure with the program.

After building an HBCU powerhouse at Jackson State in just a few years, Sanders took over a Colorado football program that went 1-11 the year before. In his first season in Boulder, Sanders led the Buffs to a 4-8 record, with three consecutive wins to start the season, including a 45-42 road victory against CFP finalists TCU to open the year. Colorado rose to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll after its 3-0 start.

The wheels came off the proverbial wagon after a double-overtime win over rival Colorado State in September, however. Despite several close games — eight of Colorado's 12 games were decided by eight or fewer points — the Buffaloes lost eight of their final nine games and finished dead last in the PAC-12. The only conference win Colorado achieved last season was a three-point triumph in October over Arizona State, which finished with a 3-9 record.

Now, Colorado is moving to the new-look Big 12, where it will face some familiar foes from the PAC-12 and its first stint in the Big 12, as well as some new ones, such as BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati. Without the likes of Texas and Oklahoma, both of which are departing for the SEC, the Big 12 is expected to be an intriguing, relatively open conference in which Colorado, if it has truly addressed some of its biggest weaknesses from 2023, could be at the top.

Sanders has largely ignored high-school recruiting in favor of the transfer portal; Colorado's 2024 high-school recruiting class has only six commits and ranks 111th nationally, but it also boasts the fifth-ranked transfer class comprised of 24 players, according to 247Sports. Additionally, one of Colorado's high-school commits is five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton, the highest-ranked lineman in the country by 247Sports.

Colorado returns Sanders' sons, defensive back Shilo and starting quarterback Shedeur, as well as electrifying two-way player Travis Hunter, who had 721 receiving yards in nine games last season.

Colorado opens the season Aug. 31 against FCS juggernaut North Dakota State in Boulder.