Instant reaction to Week 3 developments …

1. Is the end near?

We’ll start our review with Friday’s action, and a head coach whose future appears increasing murky, at least as the Hotline sees the situation.

Yes, that description fits UCLA’s DeShaun Foster. But he’s not our focus.

We are increasingly curious about Deion Sanders. There is no palpable evidence that his third season at Colorado will be his last. But the Buffaloes dropped to 1-2 after the lopsided loss at Houston. They were thoroughly outplayed by a team that won four games last season and is an afterthought in any discussion about the Big 12 hierarchy.

And we suspect there are more defeats — many more — coming. The Buffaloes don’t have a reliable quarterback, the running game is substandard and the defense is wobbly.

And they don’t have Travis Hunter.

And their upcoming schedule is nothing short of brutal.

The Buffaloes drew most of the conference’s best teams (Arizona State, Iowa State and Utah, plus Arizona, TCU and Brigham Young) in the 2025 schedule rotation.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Sanders said Friday night, following the 36-20 loss. “No one could have told me this game was going to turn out like this.”

He looked and sounded defeated in a way we have not seen from Sanders.

Now, add two personal issues to the calculation: He is no longer coaching his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, and he’s recovering from bladder cancer.

We won’t speculate about the impact of the cancer on his day-to-day life. But it’s reasonable to wonder about his energy and desire to continue grinding at the level necessary to win in the Big 12.

And everything is more difficult when your team isn’t very good.

For all we know, Sanders will keep coaching the Buffaloes for another three or four years. But don’t bet on it. In fact, we’d wager a nickel that this will be his final season.

2. The end is near

There is no guesswork required to assess the situation in Westwood, where Foster’s tenure could end any hour or any day following the incomprehensibly bad performance against New Mexico.

The Bruins lost 35-10, and it wasn’t that close.

The result occupies a spot on the short list of the worst losses in UCLA history, and it comes after a wipeout against Utah in the opener and a narrow defeat at UNLV.

The Bruins are 0-3, but it feels like 0-12. The effort is poor. The execution is worse. The schemes are awful. The discipline is nonexistent.

The university has no choice but to make a change. It could come Sunday or later in the season. But it’s impossible to envision the Bruins sticking with Foster, who was appointed to the position in Feb. 2024, after Chip Kelly left to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.

From here, it appears UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond and the administration gambled with the timing. If Foster worked out, great — he was hired on the cheap. If he didn’t, the vacancy would come once Big Ten cash was rolling in, thereby giving the Bruins a chance to offer the cash needed for a proven winner.

If that was the calculus, it backfired: Foster was not ready for the role; and the program has lost immense ground relative to its competition in the Big Ten.

The fan base is disillusioned, the economics remain challenging and the on-field performance is an embarrassment to the university.

3. Lone Star meltdowns

UCLA’s humiliation offered plenty of fodder on social media. Even the Pac-12’s official X account piled on.

The sequence began Friday night with @RedditCFB posting a screen grab of the Bruins’ remaining schedule and the following comment: “0-3 UCLA gets a bye next week, and then this is their remaining schedule. Getting to 1 win will be an absolute miracle.”

Later that night, @pac12 re-posted the comment with a GIF from ‘Seinfeld’ in which Jerry looks smug while sitting on a couch. “That’s a shame” appears in big white letters.

The trolling effort was bold but understandable given the Bruins’ role in decimating the former conference.

But less that 24 hours later, the Pac-12 was in no position to mock anyone: Washington State and Oregon State lost their games at North Texas and Texas Tech, respectively, by a combined score of 104-24.

An absolute disaster for the duo, in other words.

The Cougars committed five turnovers in a 59-10 defeat, their first of the season. The toughest stretch of their schedule looms, and the offense has looked inept in two of their three games.

Hours later, the Beavers were overwhelmed in Lubbock. They fell behind 45-0 before scoring the game’s final two touchdowns and are now 0-3 with a trip to Eugene next weekend.

Second-year coach Trent Bray has offered no evidence that he’s the right man for the job. But unlike UCLA’s Foster, he is not facing immediate termination.

The Pac-12 holdovers appear headed for long, dreary seasons.

4. Blowouts here, there, everywhere

The former Pac-12 schools had more success Saturday.

Utah started slowly but dominated the second half at Wyoming for a 31-6 win. Oregon did Oregon things in thumping Northwestern 34-14, while USC handled its business at Purdue, 33-17, following a three-hour rain delay.

Cal remained undefeated after outlasting Minnesota 27-14, and Stanford grabbed its first victory, beating travel-weary Boston College 30-20.

Arizona State recovered from its loss at Mississippi State last weekend with a 34-15 victory over Texas State, which will be joining the Pac-12 next year — and could very well be the team to beat.

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Put another way: There was not much drama Saturday afternoon and evening for the West Coast schools.

That was not the case elsewhere, however. Georgia’s overtime win at Tennessee stood as the game of the year — for a few hours.

Then Texas A&M scored with 13 seconds remaining to stun Notre Dame 41-40, a result that has sweeping repercussions for conferences across the country.

5. The CFP math

The Irish, who dropped their opener at Miami, now have two losses and seemingly need to win their final 10 games to secure one of the seven at-large berths in the College Football Playoff.

Ultimately, the playoff is a numbers game.

With the Irish participating, there are just six spots for non-champions from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC. (Because Notre Dame is an Independent, it must use the at-large path into the CFP.) But if the Irish don’t sneak in, an extra spot opens up.

Given the likelihood of both the SEC and Big Ten collecting three at-large bids, the seventh spot seemingly would benefit the Big 12 and ACC most of all — it could be the difference between one bid and two, between only the conference champion advancing to the CFP and a runner up participating, as well.

Gift baskets should be on the way to College Station.

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