CFB Expert Reveals Why Georgia Tech-Colorado Is Going To Be A Must-Watch Game In Week One

We are nearly three months away from the 2025 college football season kicking off and it is going to be a loaded week one slate. Texas travels to Ohio State, Clemson faces LSU, Alabama faces Florida State, Miami takes on Notre Dame, and Auburn travels to Baylor on the first Friday of the season.

The one game that might be flying under the radar is Georgia Tech's visit to Boulder to face Deion Sanders Colorado program that is looking to replace Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Georgia Tech has been getting some love this offseason as a potential darkhorse contender in the ACC, while Colorado is hoping it can find a way to contend in the Big 12 without those two players. The storylines are endless for this game and it is fitting that it got a primetime 8:00 p.m.. ET kickoff time on ESPN.

CBS Sports Brad Crawford recently listed why this is going to be a must-watch game on the opening weekend:

Reason to watch: Changing of the guard under Coach Prime without No. 2 and No. 12 leading the way

"Deion Sanders' tenure at Colorado enters a new era without two of the nation's top players from last year. The new-look Buffs will try to make their mark against a worthy, veteran-led adversary from the ACC. A bevy of transfers litter the two-deep at Colorado, a program most are expecting to take a step back in the Big 12 after winning nine games in 2024. Senior quarterback Haynes King takes his show on the road for the Yellow Jackets, who are no strangers to opening-week upsets after handling Florida State on the road last year in Week 1."

This is going to be a chance for a lot of people to see Georgia Tech play. Playing Deion Sanders and Colorado in a stand-alone window on ESPN is an excellent opportunity to get exposure to the program and a chance for Key to get a big win to start the season.

The Friday opener will mark the second-straight season that Georgia Tech kicks off the season in a premium TV window. Last season, the Yellow Jackets kicked off the college football campaign with a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. The Week 0 matchup drew nearly 5 million viewers on ESPN. Tech went on to be the Atlantic Coast Conference’s most-watched team in 2024, averaging 3.1 million viewers.

The Yellow Jackets’ 2025 opener at Colorado marks the first-ever gridiron matchup between the Jackets and Buffaloes and Tech’s first game in the Mountain time zone since it traveled to BYU in 2013 (GT has played twice in the Irish time zone since its last contest in MT).

FootballScoop's Zach Barnett ranked it as one of the best non-conference games of the 2025 season:

12. Georgia Tech at Colorado (Aug. 30): "In the 35th anniversary of the Yellow Jackets and Buffaloes' split national championship, it's the beginning of a new era for Colorado football in one way or the other. Either it's Game 1 of Coach Prime 2.0 as Deion Sanders coaches without Shedeur Sanders for the first time ever, or it's Game 1 of Coach TBD if Deion actually does take the Cowboy's job."

Coming into the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Georgia Tech has not had to face high pre-season expectations. The win totals in Vegas had them falling short of a bowl game in each of Brent Key's first two seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, but the Yellow Jackets exceeded expectations both times and ended up in a bowl game. Georgia Tech has played the underdog role pretty well, but with talented players returning, one of the program's best recruiting classes getting on campus, and a pretty solid transfer portal class from the winter and spring windows, the Yellow Jackets could enter the 2025 season ranked in the top 25.

There is still plenty of time between now and August, but there is certainly a case for Georgia Tech to be ranked in the preseason top 25. Quarterback Haynes King is returning, and running back Jamal Haynes is also back, joined by Penn transfer Malachi Hosley, a talented receiving corps, an offensive line that returns All-ACC guard Keylan Rutledge, and veteran talent from a defense that was much better in 2024 than 2023. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is slated to be back and Key hired Texas assistant Blake Gideon to take over for Tyler Santucci as the new defensive coordinator. There are question marks to be sure, but there is reason to believe that year three could be a breakout year for the Yellow Jackets when it comes to challenging for the ACC title.

The pieces are in place for a potentially special season in 2025 and while Georgia Tech always plays a tough schedule, next year's schedule is not as tough as years past. Yes, they play Georgia and Clemson, but no other team on their schedule is likely to start the year ranked. That is not to say that it will be a cakewalk, but Notre Dame is not on the schedule, nor is Miami or SMU. The trip to Colorado to start the year could be tough, but the Buffaloes are losing Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. As far as schedules go, next year's looks to be breaking in favor of Georgia Tech being able to contend in the ACC.

More Georgia Tech Football news: