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.
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(Top photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.
The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.
Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.
A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.
Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.
The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.
From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.
“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.
Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE
Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.
The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.
Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.
The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.
Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.
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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL
CITY SECTION FINALS
FRIDAY
At Birmingham
DIVISION I
#1 Taft d. #3 Cleveland, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21
DIVISION IV
#7 Maywood CES d. #4 Math & Science College Prep, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23
At Venice
DIVISION II
#4 Marquez d. #6 Narbonne, 23-25, 25-19, 29-27, 25-16
DIVISION III
#13 Birmingham d. #2 Legacy, 25-20, 17-25, 31-33, 25-21, 15-10
SATURDAY
At Birmingham
OPEN DIVISION
#3 Chatsworth d. #1 Granada Hills, 24-26, 25-21, 25-14, 25-18
DIVISION V
314 Franklin d. #13 Rancho Dominguez, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16
SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS
THURSDAY
At Home Sites
DIVISION 9
Vasquez d. Tarbut V’ Torah, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10
FRIDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 1
#1 Mira Costa d. #3 Loyola, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22
DIVISION 4
Sunny Hills d. Royal, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23
At Home Sites
DIVISION 5
Bishop Diego d. St. Anthony, 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23
DIVISION 8
Temescal Canyon d. West Valley, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23
SATURDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 2
Orange Lutheran d. Edison, 3-1
DIVISION 3
Windward d. St, John Bosco, 24-26, 25–21, 25-22, 25-20
DIVISION 6
Culver City d. Garden Grove, 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-9
Sports
It’s Game 7, and we have a bet locked in as the Cavaliers and legacies are on the line against the Pistons
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The NBA takes a lot of flak for having meaningless games, and I can definitely understand it, watching on a random Wednesday in January. However, the playoffs have delivered over and over to viewers and rewarded us for putting up with garbage regular-season games.
This will be the fourth Game 7 of the playoffs. Three series have been sweeps, and the other three have been six games. That shows competitive hoops. Now, how do we bet this Game 7 in the Eastern Conference?
The Cleveland Cavaliers blew it. After not winning a road game all postseason, they took Game 5 in surprising fashion. It looked like they were going to win in six games. After all, they hadn’t lost a game at home in the postseason.
Instead, Detroit came out and blitzed the Cavs, never giving them a chance to get their footing. They lost in an ugly fashion and now have to figure out a way to win a game on the road.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of Game 5 in the second-round NBA playoffs in Detroit on May 13, 2026. (Duane Burleson/AP)
It isn’t just the Cavs’ fate that rests in this game. It is also the legacy of James Harden and, to a lesser extent, Donovan Mitchell.
We know that Mitchell is a very good player, but he isn’t regarded as one of the best players ever. Harden is. Unfortunately, Harden has struggled in Game 7s. He’s averaged 19.1 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds. That’s not terrible, but looking at his shooting percentages, he is at 35.3% and 22.2% in those games. He actually is 4-4 overall in the games, but in his past three, he has scored a combined 34 points over 113 minutes.
The Detroit Pistons seem to like playing with their backs against the wall. They are a gritty team, so I suppose it makes sense.
Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren reacts after allowing a pass to go out of bounds in the second half of Game 4 of the second-round NBA playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland on May 11, 2026. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)
Cade Cunningham continues to deliver for the team, and he finally got some help in Game 6 from Jalen Duren. This was never going to be an easy series for Duren, but it feels like he is taking more time to mature than others. He definitely improved this year, but the consistency they need from him just isn’t there yet.
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Now as the team goes home they will need Duren to be a beast on the glass. If he can keep the Pistons in the rebounding battle, they should win this game with ease. They won Game 6 by just three rebounds, but that takes away a big dimension of what Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley do for the Cavs. It isn’t everything, though, as the Pistons won the rebounding battle in both losses in Cleveland.
I don’t see this being a runaway game for the Pistons. Mitchell and Cunningham likely will cancel each other out with scoring. Harden needs to establish himself as the third-best player on the floor. I haven’t seen him do that in the postseason, yet.
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden talk during Game 2 in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs vs. the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Ohio. (David Dermer/Imagn Images)
This is the second Game 7 of the playoffs for both of the clubs, so it isn’t like either will be caught off guard about what this entails.
If I look at it objectively, I think the Cavs have the better players. However, the Pistons have looked significantly better this season, and definitely in the playoffs overall. Both are prone to issues and slipping. The Cavs shouldn’t be as they are a veteran team.
This game has to be won by Cleveland, though. There is too much riding on the franchise and legacies of guys for them to not prepare properly for it. Maybe that’s weak analysis, but I’m taking the Cavs with the points and I do think they win outright. I expect a monster game from Mitchell, and Harden should get 10+ assists.
Either way, whoever wins will lose to the New York Knicks.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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