The Athletic's roster budget estimates for every Power Four football program put Colorado at $18 to $21 million for the 2026 season, a range that lands the Buffaloes ninth in the Big 12 and squarely at the conference average. The same calculations give Colorado less than a 5 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff at that spending level.
Programs spending $41 million or more carry at least a 50 percent chance of reaching the playoff this season, according to The Athletic's research. Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and LSU can go upwards of $54 million. Texas Tech leads the Big 12 at $38 to $42 million, a figure that places the Red Raiders in a spending tier well above everyone else in their own conference.
Colorado's national position looks modest. The Buffaloes rank 54th in the country, ahead of only 14 teams, most of them lower-level ACC programs and the remaining Big 12 schools. But within the Big 12, the picture is more forgiving. Twelve of the 16 Big 12 programs have roster budget ranges starting below $20 million. In the ACC, six teams fall below that threshold, and in the Big Ten, four do.
That distribution matters for Colorado's path forward. The Big 12 champion receives an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff, so a team that can compete within the conference has a genuine route to the postseason without a top-tier national budget. Colorado's $18 to $21 million range keeps it competitive within the Big 12, where the spending gap between the top and bottom is narrower than in the SEC or Big Ten.
The transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness rules have reshaped how programs assemble rosters, and the budget figures reflect that reality. The Athletic's estimates cover every Power Four team, offering a public look at what schools are actually spending in an era where those numbers are rarely disclosed. The data separates the national title contenders from everyone else.
Athletic director Fernando Lovo and head coach Deion Sanders have a specific target if they want to move Colorado up the spending table. Pushing the roster budget to $25 million would make Colorado a top-four team in the Big 12 in terms of spending, according to The Athletic's figures. That increase of roughly $4 to $7 million would not put the Buffaloes in Texas Tech's league, but it would change their position within the conference significantly.
The gap between Colorado and the top of the Big 12 is substantial. Texas Tech's $38 to $42 million range is roughly double Colorado's projected budget. The Red Raiders are the outlier in the conference, not the standard. Most Big 12 programs operate with budgets closer to Colorado's, which keeps the competitive floor in the conference relatively even.
Nationally, the contrast is sharper. The teams that spend the most are typically the ones in contention year after year, and the $41 million threshold correlates with at least a coin flip chance of making the playoff. Colorado's sub-5 percent probability reflects the distance between the Buffaloes' spending and the programs at the top of the sport. That gap is not a judgment on coaching or recruiting ability. It is a function of resources.
The roster budget figures also explain why the transfer portal has become such a competitive arena. Teams with $54 million to spend can outbid nearly everyone for the best available players. Teams working with $18 to $21 million have to be more selective about where they allocate money. Colorado's middle-of-the-pack position in the Big 12 suggests the Buffaloes can hold their own in conference recruiting battles but are not equipped to outspend the national powers.
For Colorado, the path forward is defined by the Big 12's structure. The conference champion earns an automatic playoff bid, and with 12 of the 16 Big 12 programs starting below $20 million, the spending gap within the conference is manageable. Colorado's $18 to $21 million range places it right at the conference average, ninth out of 16 teams. A move to $25 million would lift the Buffaloes to fourth in the Big 12, a jump that would put them in contention for the conference's top tier.
The Athletic's research was published through Buffaloes Wire, with Charlie Strella reporting on the estimates. The figures give Colorado a concrete benchmark as Lovo and Sanders plan the next phase of the program's roster construction. Whether the budget reaches $25 million will determine if the Buffaloes can move from the middle of the Big 12 to its upper echelon.
According to Yahoo Sports.