The phenomenon that is Colorado heads to Oregon, but will Deion’s Buffs keep their momentum going?
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — About an hour and a half before the Rocky Mountain Showdown was set to kick off this past weekend, Colorado coach Deion Sanders strolled down the Buffaloes’ sideline. Fans were starting to file in the stands, and there was already a large contingent of students who had arrived early to claim spots in their general admission sections.
As Sanders made his way toward the first student section at about the 40-yard line, they started to cheer. Then they started to bow. Both hands up, both hands down. Bend at the waist. Up and down. Up and down. Sanders continued walking toward the end zone — where the rest of the student seating wraps around — and more and more of them started to bow as the wave of worship stayed at his pace.
Colorado would move to 3-0 a few hours later in a double-overtime thriller, but in that moment the team was one of several undefeated teams in the country. One of eight in the Pac-12 alone. Yet here was Sanders, receiving God-like treatment. The whole scene, one that included a pregame visit from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Lil Wayne leading the team out of the tunnel, would have been incomprehensible a year ago.
Sanders’ gravitational pull is perhaps unlike anything college football has ever seen.
“Our kids are getting eyeballs, they’re getting viewers, getting scouts out every day to watch them do what they’re gifted to do,” Sanders said.
This week, the stakes are raised as Pac-12 play begins with a trip to No. 10 Oregon (3:30 p.m., ET, ABC), which ranks No. 2 nationally in scoring (58 points per game), No. 3 in total offense (587 yards per game) and has College Football Playoff aspirations.
As impressive as Colorado has been to start the season, Sanders knows this week’s test will require an exhaustive effort.
“We haven’t played a complete game,” Sanders said. “We have not played a game where the offense, defense as well as special teams has all shown up in the same manner.
“If the offense is playing well, the defense is hot garbage. If the defense is playing well, offense is horrible and special teams aren’t special, so we got to put it all together to be able to defeat a team like Oregon.”
Given Sanders’ proclamation that he has been keeping receipts about what opposing teams have said about him and his team, it was inevitable he would get asked this week about Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s comments from the summer in the wake of Colorado’s announcement it was leaving the Pac-12 to return to the Big 12.
“Not a big reaction,” Lanning said of Colorado’s move. “I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference. I don’t remember. Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything.”
The swipe at CU’s past performance isn’t something Sanders felt the need to respond to. In fact, he went the opposite direction.
“I respect the heck out of this man, what he’s accomplished,” Sanders said of Lanning. “Stepping in, taking over the program and keeping it not only rocking steady, but accelerating it.
“I’m not a fan of anybody, except for some celebrities that got a tremendous gift, but not in sports. I respect the heck out of him. I love what he’s accomplishing. I love who he is, the way he runs his team. I love the way he operates.”
The sentiment is reciprocated by Lanning.
“I think Coach Sanders has done a great job, obviously with his team,” Lanning said. “He has created a lot of momentum and they’ve done phenomenal in their first three games.”
Even with a 3-0 record, however, the Buffs don’t necessarily look like a team ready to take down the Ducks. It took late heroics from quarterback Shedeur Sanders to beat Colorado State — which lost by 26 to Washington State in its previous game — to win a game it was favored in by 23.5 points.
While Sanders praised the team’s resiliency and fight in the locker room following that victory, he made it clear that level of performance won’t always be good enough.
“Ultimately, we won,” he told the team. “But that is not indicative of who we are. We underachieved. I don’t know how it happened because we work our butts off. You have some of the best coaches in the nation, I feel. But you still took it for granted.
“I want you guys to understand this moment, because we could be on the other side.”
Safety Shilo Sanders, who forced a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown in that game, attributed Colorado State’s success to self-inflicted mistakes by Colorado.
“There wasn’t really nothing they was doing, it was just us,” he said. “That’s just how it’s going to be this whole season. We have the talent to be the best in this conference, in the country, but we can only do it to ourselves.”
But the Buffaloes will be missing a key part to their success. Two-way star Travis Hunter will be out against Oregon — and likely out for a few weeks — after suffering a lacerated liver on a late hit against Colorado State.
Hunter garnered Heisman buzz after the first two weeks in which he played 88.3% of Colorado’s snaps from scrimmage (not including special teams). His absence is the equivalent of two players.
“There’s no one in the country who could fill Travis Hunter’s shoes,” Deion said. “You got to understand, he’s a unique player. He’s one of a kind. He’s the best player on offense, the best player on defense. That’s just who he is — in the country, not just on this team.”
It’s a bold claim considering his son ranks No. 2 in the country in passing yards and is generating Heisman hype of his own. And that hype will only intensify should Colorado win in Eugene — where the Ducks have won 26 of their past 27 games while allowing just 18.8 points per game — as 21-point underdogs.
“[He’s] playing as well as anybody right now,” Lanning said of Shedeur. “He has a really good grasp of their system and I think that they do a great job of connecting on balls down the field, having a lot of changeups, creating some efficiencies in their offense with the tempo that they move with.”
Lanning noted that Shedeur likes to buy time with his feet to find open receivers, as opposed to taking off on his own.
Oregon counters with a Heisman candidate of its own at quarterback with Bo Nix, who is one of just six quarterbacks in the country with at least eight touchdown passes and no interceptions. Their matchup represents the first high-profile quarterback showdown this year in the Pac-12, which is loaded with one of the deepest, most accomplished quarterback groups in college football history — a main reason in the conference’s early-season success that has resulted in eight teams ranked in the AP top 25.
“You’ve been playing opposing conferences, other teams, but now this is when we get in the meat potatoes of what really matters for us and our goals that we want to accomplish,” Lanning said. “So, there’s some great teams. I think we’ll continue to see that each week. I think we have a really tough schedule and certainly a tough opponent coming up here this week.”
But it’s not just any average tough opponent making the trip. The interest Deion has generated is making the Buffaloes a traveling phenomenon, one that would be taken to even greater heights with a top-10 win away from the altar of Folsom Field.
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
The Stanley Cup playoffs is one of the most grueling postseason tournaments in sports. So it’s no wonder that a team appearing in the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years is something of a rarity. It’s rarer still that both teams meet up again in consecutive Cup Finals.
But that’s exactly what happened in 2025. Following a thrilling, seven-game series in 2024 in which the Florida Panthers went up 3-0, lost the next three to the Edmonton Oilers and won Game 7 for the franchise’s first Cup, the two teams are back at it again starting with Game 1 on Wednesday.
How are the teams different than the 2024 editions? How confident should each team be in its goaltender right now? And what are the X factors and big questions for each club heading into the rematch?
Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton reveal the tale of the tape before this heavyweight sequel.
More: Full schedule
Conn Smythe Watch
Key stats, matchups
ESPN experts’ picks
Series betting intel
How are these teams better than last season’s versions?
Oilers
Edmonton appears to be more ruthless — likely because of what happened last postseason against Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers nearly pulled off one of the the greatest comebacks in NHL history, only to lose Game 7 after falling into a three-game deficit to start the series.
This postseason has seen them master the comeback, while also sensing how to stop an opponent from doing the same. They lost the first two games of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings before winning four straight. They opened Game 1 of the second-round series versus the Vegas Golden Knights by giving up the first two goals before setting a Stanley Cup playoff record with their fifth consecutive comeback victory. Even with the Golden Knights grabbing a last-second goal to win Game 3, the Oilers shut them out for the final two games of the series.
That trend continued when they played the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals. The Stars scored six straight goals to take Game 1, only for the Oilers to give up five goals total over the next four games to advance to the Cup Final. — Clark
Panthers
Florida had good depth a season ago. The Panthers have great depth this time around.
They’ve had 19 different players light the lamp this postseason compared to 15 in the 2024 playoffs. Florida is also averaging more goals (3.88 per game) and giving up fewer scores (2.29) than before, while their power play has been markedly more productive (23.2% vs. 18.5%) and their penalty kill (87.9%) is the best in the playoffs.
The Panthers’ collective buy-in on defense has been noticeable. They’ve given up fewer shots this go-around and have been able to shut down some of the league’s hottest offensive teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning led the NHL in regular-season scoring but managed just 12 goals in five games during their first-round series against Florida. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky‘s numbers are stronger now than a season ago (more on him later).
GM Bill Zito made key additions to the Panthers’ roster in Brad Marchand, who has been a sensational third-line asset, and Seth Jones, a productive force on the back end. Florida found the right mix of physicality and skill that has made it a terror for every opponent so far. — Shilton
2:25
Matthew Tkachuk hypes Stanley Cup Final rematch: ‘We’re the two best’
Matthew Tkachuk joins “The Pat McAfee Show” to discuss why a rematch between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers is “an incredible final.”
How are these teams worse than last season’s versions?
Oilers
The Oilers had a penalty kill that was one of the best in league history but now struggles at times. Part of their run to the Cup Final last season was due to a penalty kill that had a 94.3% success rate. The Oilers are back in the Final again, with the reality that their short-handed performances have succeeding just 66% of the time, which ranks as the third-worst rate this postseason.
So what’s different? Namely, it’s their personnel. Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Ryan McLeod were integral players who were also in the top eight of short-handed minutes for the Oilers last postseason. All three played elsewhere this season.
Then there’s the circumstances around Mattias Ekholm. He led the Oilers with 68:49 in short-handed ice time last postseason, and it was more than 12 minutes ahead of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was second. The good news for Edmonton? Ekholm returned to the team in Game 5 against the Stars after missing the entirety of the playoffs to that point recovering from an undisclosed injury. — Clark
Panthers
Frankly, it’s tough nitpicking the Panthers. But there have been some lapses when Florida looked less than championship-worthy.
The early games in the second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs showed Florida’s vulnerabilities defending off the rush against top-flight talents. That issue resurfaced in Games 4 and 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes when Florida looked more flat-footed and turnover prone against faster forwards.
That’s an area the Panthers didn’t struggle with as much last season — Florida is averaging more giveaways per 60 minutes this postseason (12.23) compared to a season ago (9.67), and Edmonton is capable of forcing errors with their speed and skill. Puck management — and protection — will be paramount for the Panthers. — Shilton
1:21
Leon Draisaitl excited to have another chance to win Stanley Cup
Leon Draisaitl breaks down what he’s looking forward to in the Oilers’ matchup vs. the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Goaltender Confidence Ratings
Oilers: 8.5/10
May 10 is the day everything changed for the Oilers and Stuart Skinner. That’s the day Kris Knoblauch returned to Skinner for Game 3 against the Golden Knights.
Knoblauch had benched Skinner after he allowed 12 goals in the first two games of the previous series against the Kings, which led to Calvin Pickard taking over. Pickard, however, sustained an injury in Game 2 against the Golden Knights, which led to Skinner’s return for Game 3.
In the time since Skinner’s reentry, he has become one of the Oilers’ most important players. Skinner shut out the Golden Knights for the final two games and also had a shutout against the Stars in the conference finals.
Getting a pair of shutouts answered some questions. There were still concerns about whether the Oilers could win if Skinner wasn’t perfect and didn’t record a shutout. He answered those questions by posting a .920 save percentage over the final three games of the conference finals to slam the door shut on Dallas. — Clark
Panthers: 9/10
Bobrovsky has levelled up in every series Florida has played this postseason — and his most recent numbers are increasingly absurd.
Through five games against Tampa Bay in the first round and the first three games against Toronto in the second round, Bobrovsky was 5-3, with an .875 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average. Average stuff. Something clicked in the second round, and Playoff Bob went bonkers; in Games 4-7 against the Leafs and the entire Eastern Conference finals, Bobrovsky went 7-2, with a .944 SV% and 1.34 goals against average. Oh, and he had two shutouts in that stretch.
Bobrovsky’s “worst” performance in the past two weeks was Game 5 against Carolina, when he gave up three goals on 20 shots, the most markers he has allowed since Game 3 against Toronto.
Bobrovsky has proven his mettle time and again. He has experienced success and failure on a Cup Final run (remember he was pulled from Game 4 last year, a brutal 8-1 Panthers loss). Bobrovsky is a veteran netminder at the top of his game and will try to get the better of Skinner again in this year’s goaltending matchup. — Shilton
X factors for the Cup Final
Oilers
How will they manage without Zach Hyman for a whole series? Hyman led the Oilers with 16 goals last postseason. He has contributed in a different way this season, in that he has been their most physical player. Hyman was leading the NHL this postseason with 111 hits and added another dimension to what was an already layered team.
The injury he sustained in Game 4 against Dallas means he’ll miss the remainder of the playoffs. It’s a loss that created concerns such as: Who fills that physical void? Who fills in on the top six? Who takes his spot on the power play?
In their first game without Hyman, the Oilers once again relied on their depth to fill that absence. They had five forwards finish with more than five hits, while two of those skaters — Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen — scored in the series-clinching Game 5. But that’s not to say Hyman was the only Oilers skater who has a physical edge to their game. Entering the Game 1 of the Final, the Oilers have five players who are in the top 25 in hits this postseason. — Clark
Panthers
How will Florida’s stars stack up against Edmonton’s? The Panthers, as noted above, have 19 goal scorers this postseason. So do the Oilers. There’s depth to spare on both sides of this one.
But, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are first and second in playoff scoring (with 26 and 25 points, respectively). The Panthers’ top two point getters are Aleksander Barkov (with 17) and Sam Bennett (16). And Bennett is also Florida’s goal-scoring leader with 10; he’s the only Panther with a double-digit total.
Florida needs Barkov, Bennett, Sam Reinhart (four goals and 13 points), Carter Verhaeghe (six goals and 14 points) and Matthew Tkachuk (five goals and 16 points) all rolling from the outset in this series. The Oilers are opportunistic, explosive and just as dangerous five-on-five as on the power play. How Florida counters to not only hold Edmonton’s stars at bay but consistently activate its own could be the deciding factor in this matchup. — Shilton
0:37
Fortenbaugh’s best bet for Panthers-Oilers Stanley Cup rematch
Joe Fortenbaugh explains why he’s taking the Panthers to repeat as champions against the Oilers.
Big questions before Game 1
The Oilers have made major adjustments throughout the playoffs, such as the ones that helped them rally from an 0-2 series hole against the Kings. Or the adjustments made when they silenced the Golden Knights, who were in the top five in goals per game in the regular season, over the final two games of the series. Plus the way they went from giving up six goals to the Stars in Game 1 of the conference finals to allowing only five goals combined for the final four games of the series.
There’s how they managed to find defensive continuity without Ekholm. There’s the way they went from Skinner to Pickard and back to Skinner to return to the Cup Final — where they’ll be missing Hyman.
Will those adjustments be the difference between a repeat of last season’s defeat and winning it all for the first time since 1990? — Clark
How will penalties influence this series?
Florida toes the line — without going over it — better than any team in the league. The Panthers also spend a significant amount of time in the box. Can the Panthers find the right balance between the two here, knowing the Oilers have a dominant power play that just scored six goals on the man advantage — at least one per game — in the Western Conference finals against Dallas?
Florida is the most penalized team in the playoff field (by a wide margin), and that’s just part and parcel for a physically focused team that’s also averaging the most hits (47.05 per game) in the postseason. Florida has also drawn more penalties than any team.
It’s an intriguing dynamic that could go one of two ways for the Panthers. Will they frustrate the Oilers while staying on the right side of the officials? Or will Edmonton’s dynamism force the Panthers into overstepping their boundaries?
Special teams suddenly loom large. Edmonton has the power-play edge, while Florida has the penalty-killing prowess. The back-and-forth and potential for gamesmanship will be fascinating. — Shilton
Game 1 best bets
Anton Lundell over 0.5 total assists (+210): Historically, the Oilers have preferred Connor McDavid’s line versus Matthew Tkachuk’s when they control last change, which they will to start the series in Edmonton. The Panthers, meanwhile, lean on Aleksander Barkov to check McDavid when they have that advantage. All that top-line jockeying leaves Edmonton with fewer options to contain the trio of Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen. That line has been dominant at 5-on-5, with 10 goals scored and just two allowed this postseason.
Vasily Podkolzin over 4.5 total hits (+115): The Oilers have been much more physical in this year’s run, likely a lesson learned after falling to the punishing Panthers last spring. In limited minutes (10:53 per game), Podkolzin has delivered 74 hits over 16 games, and is averaging 5.0 per night at home. He’s a good bet to keep that pace.
Eetu Luostarinen over 0.5 total goals (+650): If you are looking for a longer shot to fuel the payout on a same-game parlay, taking Luostarinen for a goal is a fair gamble. He has the second-most 5-on-5 goals for the Panthers this postseason (four) and second-most high-danger scoring chances (17, per NaturalStatTrick), but has much longer odds than the Panthers leading those respective categories (Lundell at +360 and Carter Verhaeghe at +230). — Sean Allen
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