Deion Sanders claims to be "mad" at Colorado AD for tough season opener in Big 12 debut

Deion Sanders is preparing his Colorado Buffaloes team for life in a new conference. After many years in the Pac-12, the Buffaloes will now be in the Big 12.

This means that Sanders and Colorado will be facing the likes of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, TCU Horned Frogs and Iowa State Cyclones regularly. However, these are not the games that Sanders is worried about.

The game in question is the Colorado Buffaloes' season opener against North Dakota State. Sanders spoke about the game during his appearance at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday.

"They're really darn good, and I am mad at (CU athletic director) Rick (George) right now for putting them on the schedule to open up. Can you give me a layup to start?"

The North Dakota State Bison are one of the stronger FCS programs, winning the national championship nine times since 2011.

They are not an easy team to beat and have experience in defeating many Power Five teams.

For many teams, having a season opener against an FCS team would be a definite win. However, North Dakota is the expectation to the rule, and this has led to Sanders's annoyance at Rick George, who has a say in the nonconference games.

Sanders seems to think that playing NDSU in the Buffaloes' opening game will give the team a disadvantage, as opening with a loss to any opponent is something that can ruin momentum going into the season.

Deion Sanders gives his thoughts on the Big 12 commissioner

Deion Sanders also used his time during the Big 12 Media Days to speak about his program's new conference and its commissioner, Brett Yormack.

Sanders described Yormack as:

"A baller, shot-caller and a boss."

Yormack has been the Big 12 commissioner since 2022 and has underseen the departure of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners to the Southeastern Conference and the subsequent expansion of the conference that included the Colorado Buffaloes. He was also in charge of the signing of a new media deal.

This is a massive difference from former Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff whose inability to sign a media deal was the reason why the Buffaloes, alongside nine other programs, departed the conference.

Deion Sanders appears to like his new commissioner, but only time will tell if his Colorado Buffaloes program can be successful in the new conference.