'Dumbest thing ever': Deion Sanders rips late kickoff, thankful Colorado is leaving Pac-12

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders ripped the 8 p.m. local time kickoff set by ESPN for his team’s next game Friday against Stanford, saying "thank God" his team is soon leaving the Pac-12 Conference and its many later game times in the West.

Sanders said the 8 p.m. kickoff was the "dumbest thing ever" and "the stupidest thing ever invented in life."

"Who wants to stay up till 8 o'clock for a dern game?" he asked.

He made these remarks Wednesday on his weekly Colorado Football Coaches Show in Boulder.

He then questioned how many viewers would stay up to watch the game on the East Coast, where the game starts at 10 p.m.

"They even care about ratings or anybody watching it?" he asked.

ESPN does and hit the jackpot on a previous late game involving Colorado on Sept. 16. Colorado beat Colorado State in that game in double overtime and drew 9.3 million viewers on despite it ending until after 2 a.m. on the East Coast. It was the most-watched late game ever on ESPN.

Before that game, Sanders also expressed displeasure about the late kickoff time.

"What we supposed to do with the kids all day, until 8 o’clock?" Sanders asked Wednesday.

Deion Sanders says he's thankful Colorado is leaving Pac-12

Even though it’s a home game in Boulder, his team stays in a hotel before the game, as do other teams before home games.

"What you supposed to do in the hotel?" he asked. "What you supposed to do all day?"

"Watching football," the show’s host Mark Johnson said.

"Who’s playing on Friday?" Sanders replied.

Sanders then noted his team is leaving the Pac-12 after this season.

"Thank God we’re not gonna be in this conference," he said.

By leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 next year, Colorado will play more games against conference rivals in the Central and Eastern time zones, where he expects fewer kickoffs at 10 p.m. ET.

His Buffaloes (4-2) previously played three games on Fox that started at 10 a.m. local time (noon ET). Those games were favored by many players and much more in tune with Sanders’ personal early-bird work schedule which includes rising before dawn.

What will Sanders do with his own time Friday? Maybe watch television.

"I’ll just find (TV personality) Steve Harvey and watch it all day," he said. "That’s my guy."

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com