Deion Sanders leads Colorado to first top-15 win since 2007: Coach Prime cools hot seat talk ... for now

Colorado Buffaloes picked up its biggest win in nearly two decades on Friday night, stunning No. 14 Houston in a 42-32 victory that ends the Cougars' dreams of a College Football Playoff berth.

It's the first time Colorado has beaten a top-15 ranked team since 2007 and gets the Buffaloes to 4-6 -- guaranteeing an improvement over last year's 3-9 campaign. It's a massive win for Deion Sanders in his fourth year at the program, as he's been desperate for his team to show that kind of performance against a quality opponent.

The hot seat chatter around Sanders has been growing for the past two seasons. Last year's 3-9 effort saw a massive drop-off after the 9-4 season with Heisman winner Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders leading the way. Life without Hunter and Sanders has been rough for the Buffaloes, and Coach Prime has been struggling to prove that he can build something in Boulder without those two stars.

Friday night's win over Houston offered a chance to exhale, both for Sanders and Colorado fans, who seemed resigned to their fate of having another year at the bottom of the Big 12 with no clear exit strategy in sight. For as much conversation as there's been about whether the Buffaloes should move on from Sanders, the financial reality made it extremely difficult -- if not outright impossible -- for the school to end the Coach Prime tenure.

Sanders received a massive extension after that 9-4 campaign in 2024 and would be owed $25.5 million if he were fired after the 2026 season. That's not money Colorado has tucked away in a rainy-day fund, and the Buffaloes needed Sanders to be the one to decide to walk away. That has seemed unlikely, as he's insisted he's the right man for the job and capable of turning things around. But until Friday night, he was without a proof point of progress being made.

Sanders insisted his team was showing all the right things in practice and doing all the right things off the field. But what matters to fans is what shows up on the field on Saturdays (or Friday nights), and up until Nov. 13, Colorado had yet to make a real statement.

The Buffaloes had close calls, like a 27-24 loss at home to a Utah team that's currently No. 2 in the nation. That offered a glimpse of what's possible, but there have been too many losses in Boulder for Sanders to point to moral victories in defeat.

Friday's win over Houston was exactly what he needed to at least cool down the temperature in Boulder and buy himself a bit more goodwill ahead of his fifth year in charge. The Buffaloes likely were going to stick with Sanders either way because of the finances, but it becomes a much easier pitch to fans to support the team entering Year 5 with a win over a playoff contender.