Sports
Colorado and Deion Sanders are winning in a way few saw coming — quietly
He hasn’t grilled any reporters on whether they believe. None of his postgame interviews have gone viral.
He hasn’t shared a stage with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or had Lil Wayne lead his team onto the field. His team is garnering around half the TV viewers it did a season ago.
But Deion Sanders and Colorado? The team that finished alone in last place in the Pac-12 last season?
The Buffaloes have been handing out beatings, quietly fielding an improved 5-2 team that has played its way into the thick of the Big 12 title race with five games remaining.
“We’re not who we used to be. But we sure ain’t where we wanna be,” Sanders said Saturday after routing Arizona 34-7 in Tucson.
Shedeur Sanders (2) and wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) have helped Colorado open 3-1 in Big 12 play. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
Of course, it’s not like he’s avoiding headlines. He did go out of his way to needle former president Barack Obama after Obama told a crowd last Friday in Tucson that Colorado has “a couple good players” and people shouldn’t “bet against the Wildcats.”
“President, I heard what you said. Come on,” Sanders said after the Buffs’ win the next day. “We got more than two good players. … Somebody gave him some great statistics, but President, come on, man. You my man. I love you, appreciate you, but come on, dog.”
It’s easy to go after a former president (and it lands a lot better) when your team is playing the way the Buffaloes have played since a disastrous loss at rival Nebraska in Week 2, when the Cornhuskers ran up a 28-0 halftime lead in a 28-10 win.
Nebraska sacked quarterback Shedeur Sanders six times. The Buffaloes ran for 16 yards. Sanders threw an ugly pick six early in the game and lobbed criticism at his offensive line afterward. It looked a lot like the 4-8 team from a year ago. The season looked like it had the simmering potential to go awry.
GO DEEPER
In Deion Sanders’ second year at Colorado, what will resonate most? Results
Since then?
Colorado routed rival Colorado State in Fort Collins, beat Baylor on a miracle Hail Mary and went to UCF as a two-touchdown underdog and won by 27.
It hosted Kansas State, a Big 12 title contender, and rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to take the lead before surrendering a game-winning touchdown pass with just over two minutes to play.
And last week, as an underdog, it went to Arizona and smacked another conference opponent to improve to 3-1 in Big 12 play, with already two more conference wins logged than a season ago.
A bowl game looks near certain. It would be Colorado’s first since going 4-2 in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Competing for a conference title doesn’t appear likely but is still possible. The Buffs are one of six league teams that are undefeated or have one loss in conference play.
Of the remaining games, only the next two — at home against Cincinnati and at Texas Tech — come against teams with more than one conference win this season.
Colorado has done it while weathering a host of injuries to its best position group and best player. Receivers Jimmy Horn Jr. and Travis Hunter — a two-way star who is also the Buffaloes’ best defender and in contention for the Heisman Trophy — have been sidelined. Sophomore receiver Omarion Miller is out for the season.
The offensive line is still the team’s biggest issue. It allowed quarterbacks to be pressured on 36.7 percent of dropbacks last season, which ranked 110th nationally, per TruMedia. This year, with four new starters, it improved to just 100th, at 34 percent.
Despite that though, Shedeur Sanders, one of Deion’s two sons on the team, has kept playing at an elite level. He’s fourth nationally in completion percentage and 16th in passer rating, with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. Other than the interceptions, his passing numbers are up in every area compared with last season.
Sanders has still been sacked 25 times, more than all but three teams. And in the run game, backs are gaining just 1.29 yards before contact (117th nationally). That number was 1.74 last year, good for 95th.
But despite those continued struggles, Colorado has found something close to a functional running game. Last year, it was a non-factor for the entire season. Since the loss to Nebraska, the Buffs have rushed for at least 90 yards in four of five games after doing that three times all last season. In three of those games, they averaged more than 3.75 yards a carry. The offense did that twice all last season.
The biggest difference, though, has been the addition of transfers on defense such as linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, cornerback DJ McKinney to start opposite Hunter and edge rusher additions BJ Green II, Samuel Okunlola and Dayon Hayes.
The Buffaloes took 52 scholarship transfers in Sanders’ first offseason and followed it up with 43 this year. One way or another, the defense turned over all but three starters from last year. One of those is Sanders’ son Shilo, who missed three games after breaking his arm in the loss to Nebraska and struggled when he returned in the loss to Kansas State.
“I thought he played horrible,” Deion Sanders said. “I thought he was rusty.”
Sanders brought Shilo with him to his postgame news conference after the win at Arizona, though, and said he was proud of how he rebounded.
Those new faces on defense, combined with first-time coordinator Rob Livingston who arrived from the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason, have revitalized the Buffaloes defense. Livingston had been with the Bengals since 2012 but never called a play.
Last year, Colorado ranked 115th in yards per play and 124th in scoring defense. It gave up 34 points or more in a half four times. More often, it was the Buffs defense being blitzed.
This year, the Buffs are up 53 spots to 62nd nationally in yards per play and 47th in scoring defense, up 77 spots.
Saturday, they sacked Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita seven times and held the Wildcats to a season-low seven points. And they did it playing the second half without Hunter, who sat as a precautionary measure with a shoulder injury.
There were pressing questions about how a team with such a transient roster would hold together after a shaky start against North Dakota State and the beatdown from Nebraska instead of signs this was coming.
But Colorado hasn’t flinched. Instead, it’s playing the best football of the Sanders era by far and racking up wins in a hurry.
Saturday, it faces a Cincinnati team that’s 5-2. A win would put the Buffaloes into a bowl game for just the third time since 2007, in Sanders’ second season after taking over the worst Power 5 team in college football.
Sure, Sanders, behind his Blenders sunglasses, can always shoot back to the forefront of discourse in a second. Continuing to win will do that, too. Though the Buffaloes haven’t stirred the same fascination and aren’t the same television draw as they were a season ago, on the field, they’ve offered far more substance.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage.
66.6% of nations will advance out of the group stage this summer, which is a massive upgrade from 50% in past World Cups. Because of this, sportsbooks have adjusted with less favorable odds.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany entered with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters.
All five nations are heavily favored at -10000 to advance to the knockout round.
The Spaniards are the defending European Champions while the Argentinians are looking to win back-to-back titles. Germany has not made it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, but has always been a perennial contender— having won four titles in its history. And then of course there’s Brazil, which has more titles than any country with five.
Now, after the conclusion of the first day of the World Cup, Mexico has joined the group at the top. El Tri has surged to -10000 to advance to the knockout stage after initially being just -1400. Mexico’s huge leap up the oddsboard is a direct result of its dominating 2-0 win over South Africa.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the odds for each team to advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as of June 12.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Odds to Advance to Knockout Stage
Spain: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Argentina: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Brazil: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
England: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Mexico: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Germany: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Portugal: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
France: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
Belgium:-3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
South Korea: -2500 (bet $10 to win $10.40 total)
Switzerland: -1800 (bet $10 to win $10.56 total)
Netherlands: -1400 (bet $10 to win $10.71 total)
Morocco: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Colombia: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Uruguay: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Canada: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Ecuador: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
Norway: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
United States: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
The U.S. men’s national team is currently -750 to advance from Group D (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
Croatia: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Austria: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Türkiye: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Ivory Coast: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Japan: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Egypt: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Algeria: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Scotland: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Senegal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Sweden: -230 (bet $10 to win $1435 total)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -220 (bet $10 to win $14.55 total)
Paraguay: -205 (bet $10 to win $14.88 total)
Iran: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)
Czechia: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Ghana: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total)
Australia: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)
DR Congo: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Raúl Jiménez helped propel Mexico to a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Photo by Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images).
Saudi Arabia: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
Tunisia: +140 (bet $10 to win $24 total)
New Zealand: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
Uzbekistan: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Cape Verde: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Panama: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Qatar: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
South Africa: +320 (bet $10 to win $42 total)
Jordan +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Iraq: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Haiti: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Curaçao: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Cameron Brink said she’d appreciate some grace. She really would.
Sparks fans should give her some, because where else is she going to get it?
Certainly not from WNBA refs. Not from opponents with more to play for than ever. Certainly not from the game itself; basketball moves fast, and a bummer can become a bust in a blink.
But Brink, 24, is not on the brink of bust territory, no. Block that thought. Technically, it’s Year 3, but after a torn ACL derailed her as a rookie two summers ago, it’s practically like Year 2 for the former Stanford star. And by design, the WNBA is testing her confidence, her decision-making and her patience as she tries to reestablish herself as one of the WNBA’s best young players.
So, grace.
The recognizable 6-foot-4 forward — she’s the long-blond-haired hooper in the New Balance ads — was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.
Now she’s her team’s No. 3 option in the post. She’s coming off the bench behind Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby for the Sparks, who are a modest 6-6 after wins this week over the expansion Portland Fire and the struggling Seattle Storm.
Against the Fire, Brink scored two points and picked up four fouls in nine minutes. Then she went to Seattle and had 15 points in 18 minutes but was pulled with more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter after getting her third, fourth and fifth fouls in 86 seconds. (WNBA players get six fouls before being disqualified.)
For the season, Brink has been called for 49 fouls in 208 minutes. A foul about every four minutes!
They’re silly fouls and they’re phantom calls. Egregious and ticky-tack. Costly and common. A real fouled-up buffet. She sets screens that get scrutinized as if by the most vigilant TSA agent. And sometimes, yes, she’s doing the accidental tripping. Other times, the officials are.
Her reputation precedes her, so everyone gets a superstar’s whistle when being defended by Brink. Opponents bake it into their game plans.
That can’t continue.
All that fouling is hindering Brink’s development because it’s robbing her of important in-game reps — which she needs, foremost, to figure out how to stop fouling.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, left, blocks the shot of the Tempo’s Laura Juskaite during a game last month.
(Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
“At the pro level,” said Tara VanDerveer, Brink’s coach at Stanford, “every young player always has a lot of work to do. And I saw her make a three. I see her block shots. She rebounds, she can handle the ball, she’s unselfish, she’s a terrific talent. But there’s always things players need to work on.”
We know what Brink’s thing is.
“She has to be disciplined,” VanDerveer said. “And if you want something so badly, if you want to be an All-Star someday or make the Olympic team, you’ve got to be dependable … and I think anyone can change, if it’s behavior they recognize is not in their best interests or not in their team’s best interests. It’s hard, but it’s something I think people can do.
“That’s what Cam is working on.”
And, VanDerveer added, “I’m really so excited that Nneka is there, because she will give her such great guidance and mentorship.”
And grace. Brink is getting that from Ogwumike — also a former Stanford star, the Sparks legend returned to L.A. this season after two seasons in Seattle — and her other teammates.
“I just do my best to lead by example,” Ogwumike, 35, said. “But then also let [Brink] know that she’s very capable, that she’s more than capable, which is exactly why she’s here with us and it’s exactly why we need her on this team.”
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, wearing a facemask, controls the ball while defended by Sun forward Raegan Beers.
(Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
But how long will Brink get grace from the Sparks in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business of basketball?
The foul trouble tells us why a win-now team wouldn’t trust her, why the Sparks would give meaningful minutes to two veteran post players ahead of her. Why they wouldn’t prioritize Brink’s development alongside winning as they strive to snap a previously unthinkable five-year playoff drought.
And what about fans? How patient will you all be with a player who was drafted immediately after Caitlin Clark and five spots in front of Angel Reese?
These days, that might depend on what the parlay calls for.
Or, preferably, whether you remember Brink’s first 15 WNBA games. All starts, all signs pointing to stardom. She showed up in 2024 throwing lavish block parties. Her 2.3 blocks per game were message-sending spikes, like what Lisa Leslie used to enthrall Sparks crowds with.
From the jump, she had guys coming to games at Crypto.com Arena wearing her No. 22 jersey and little girls arriving in groups with No. 22 painted on their cheeks and “I love Cam Brink” signs in hand.
And then the torn ACL cost her 25 games of her rookie season and another 25 last season, plus her spot on the United States’ Olympic 3×3 women’s basketball team in Paris in 2024.
She had to start over. Lost a lot of ground. But you see that masked woman stuck on the Sparks’ bench for all but 17 minutes per game?
You can’t miss her. She’s looking uncomfortable in protective facial gear that either hinders her breathing or her peripheral vision, her only options to protect the torn septum she suffered in a victory over the Las Vegas Aces last month.
She’s the one with the 6-8 wingspan who’s averaging 9.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 52.1% from the field in her limited minutes.
She’s still Cameron Brink. Between fouls, she’s fluid and fast and covers more of the court than almost anyone in the WNBA, able to leap from defending guards to centers in a single bound.
“It’s just looking at every day as a new opportunity to learn and grow and not getting too bogged down when things don’t go exactly as you planned,” Brink told me. “Because more times than not, things are not going to go how you want them to. And that’s life. So I just want to be able to put my best effort out there every single night.
She knows what the Sparks need from her: “To perform, just come on the floor and compete.”
To prove she can stay on the floor to compete.
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When will Team USA lose in the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Or, will it not lose at all?
Let’s check out the odds for the Americans’ stage of elimination at FanDuel Sportsbook, as of June 11.
Team USA — Stage of elimination odds
Last 32: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
Last 16: +220 (bet $10 to win $32 total)
Group stage: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Quarterfinals: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Semifinals: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Runner-up: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Outright winner: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
The outlook appears to be … ho-hum?
If the odds ring true, the Americans are expected to make it out of the group stage but fall in the first knockout stage game.
How would that result stack up against previous results? Well, at the 2022 World Cup, Team USA made it to the Round of 16, which was viewed as a stellar accomplishment.
The U.S. men’s national team currently has 60-1 odds to lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy this summer (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
In 2018, the USA did not qualify for the World Cup, and in 2014 and 2010, the Americans also made it to the Round of 16. Their best result this century occurred in 2002, when the Americans made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.
In 1998, Team USA lost in the group stage, in 1994, it fell in the Round of 16, and in 1990, it also fell in the group stage.
With the expanded World Cup format, 32 teams will advance to the knockout stage (out of 48), giving teams a much better chance of getting out of the group stage than in previous tournaments. In past years, only 50% of the field advanced to the knockout round, but now 66.6% of teams will move on.
With that being said, anything less than a knockout round appearance on home soil would be viewed as a major failure this summer for Team USA.
The second result on the oddsboard is the “Last 16,” meaning the USA would make it out of the group stage and win one knockout stage game, before falling in the second knockout stage game. The third result is that the Americans failed to make it out of the group stage, and the fourth is that they made it to the quarterfinals, meaning they won two knockout stage games.
Making the semis, losing in the championship game and winning the championship are the three results with the longest odds.
The U.S. begins its World Cup journey on Friday as the Stars and Stripes face Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium. Getting off to a fast start in the group is crucial for the team’s World Cup dreams of making a deep run this summer.
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