Back in August we speculated how good CU could be. Tomorrow night we take another step toward that answer. CU is now ranked #15 in the nation. That alone has to be one of the seasons top football stories. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of the PAC-12, CU is primed to become THE story of the 2016 NCAA Football season.
November ushers in the season of Polls and Bowls. This is where it gets fun. What CU does in their four games this month will go a long way in determining where they will be ranked and what bowl they will be playing in for the post season.
Tomorrow night CU takes on UCLA in a nationally televised game under the lights of Folsom. The student body and majority of fan base will be wearing black. CU will be in their traditional Gold helmets, black jersey and gold pants. What is old is new again. It will be a sight to be seen.
Kick off is 7pm. Tailgate starts at 4pm. St. Aidan’s church (2425 Colorado Ave). All are welcome.
These are the days we longed for season after miserable season. These are the days we wanted when CU tickets were a dime a dozen and going to a CU game was a waste of time. We lived in a world of “what ifs.” No longer. It’s all in front of us now. Football is back in Boulder and the nation is taking notice. We are now those guys.
CU is primed to dismantle UCLA. CU’s offensive line will move UCLA against their will. Lindsey, who’s been playing out of his mind, will rush for over 100 yards. UCLA will not be able to keep up with CU’s four receiver spread. On defense, CU will shut down the run game and force UCLA to pass and will have at least one pick. CU will be victorious and the magical season will continue.
For the 2016 Colorado Buffaloes there is no such thing as an “Ugly Win.” While CU may not have looked impressive against a down trodden Stanford Cardinal team last Saturday, at the end of the day the scoreboard had CU at 10 and Stanford at 5, giving CU its first win over Stanford since 1990. And making the Buffs bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
Bowl eligibility is not just about playing in a bowl. It’s about exposure and recruiting. Players want to play for winners. After the regular season ends, those teams playing in the bowl game get noticed by highly recruited high school athletes. Top recruits are going to now want to come to CU. And as coach Mac is fond of saying “Player make plays and players win games.” There are eight bowls in which CU will wind up playing. The most prestigious is the Rose Bowl on January 2nd.
In order to get there, CU will have to either win the Pac-12 or come in 2nd in the Pac-12 to a playoff bound University of Washington. For this reason, Buff Nation will want to root for the Washington Huskies as they take on Utah tomorrow. Not only does CU want to win the rest of their games this season, they also want WA to win the rest of their games and be ranked in the top 4 in the nation when they face Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship. In this perfect scenario, CU would be assured a Rose Bowl invitation with a win or loss against WA. A win by WA over Utah tomorrow also provides a bit of cushion for CU in the event they stumble against UCLA, AZ or WA St before playing Utah in the final game of the regular season.
CU Bowl prospects:
CU’s bye week comes at the perfect time. An opportunity to get healed up and begin to focus on the November games. This has been a magical season for CU. CU controls their own destiny to win the Pac-12 and play in the Rose Bowl. CU is the only team in the Pac-12 South to be ranked in the top four in Total Offense and Total Defense, and they are one of the most balanced teams in the nation. And they are also playing with a chip on their shoulder. Ever since joining the Pac-12 in 2011 they have been the laughing stock of the league, because they couldn’t win. No one is laughing anymore. No one wants to play these guys. CU is disciplined, hungry, and dangerous. They are also peaking at the optimal time. Buckle your seats belts. This is going to be a heck of a finish.
With over five minutes remaining in last Saturday’s CU football game, ASU failed to convert on a fourth down pass. CU took over possession and proceeded to run the ball on eight consecutive plays culminating in a touchdown and a 40-16 final score. It was a fitting end to the game. Throughout the night CU had imposed their will on ASU. They had accumulated nearly 600 yards total offense (compared to ASU’s 199). Not only did CU impose their will, they also dictated the tempo of the game the entire night. ASU was constantly out of sync on both offense and defense. This is the new era for CU football. That final touchdown with 40 seconds remaining in the game was a message to the rest of the Pac-12 that CU was back. In 2014 CU improved from being a terrible team to being a decent team. In 2015 CU improved from being a decent team to being a competitive team. In 2016 the question was can CU improve from being a competitive team to a team that knows how to win. Clearly we have our answer. CU can and does impose their will on their opponents, especially those who come into Folsom Field. It’s suddenly a tough place for visitors.
We are over half-way through the season and CU finds itself tied with Utah for the lead in the Pac-12 South. While the first seven games (CU is now 5-2) have been a joy to be a part of, it’s the remaining five games of the season which will really determine the magnitude of how special the 2016 season will be viewed. Right now, no one wants to play the Buffs. They are one of the deepest and most balanced football teams in the Pac-12. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder, and their opponents (e.g. ASU, OR) have not truly come to terms with the new normal of CU Football.
For the remainder of the season, CU will find itself in a dog-fight with USC and Utah for the Pac-12 South title. CU has the more favorable schedule (three of last four games at home), USC probably has the most talented team and hold the tie-breaker with CU, and Utah is the highest ranked of the three. CU controls its own destiny, but fans we will want to root for USC and Utah to lose a few games along the way to create some cushion. CU is ranked #26 in the nation. A win at Stanford will propel them into the top twenty. In college football it is often said “the games to remember are played in November.” That is certainly true for CU this year. The Buffs have put themselves in the enviable situation where are their remaining games are meaningful. Rankings aside, what CU wants will be won or lost on Folsom Field in November. See below for a preview.
Remaining schedule
October 22 @ Stanford. Stanford just beat Notre Dame this past weekend. This game will be a battle of two outstanding football teams. This is a Pac-12 Network dream come true. If CU can get out of this one with a win, they will run the table on the rest of the schedule finishing the season at 10-2 and looking at a new year’s day bowl game (the Holy Grail of college football).
November 3 (Thursday night) vs UCLA under the lights at Folsom Field. This game will be on national TV. The game will be a black out (fans wearing black) and it will be CU’s true national coming out party where they will soundly beat UCLA. The win will make CU bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. The fans will rush the field (similar to what transpired after the ASU game), but more importantly, the nationally televised win will be seen by high school recruits around the country (especially in CA) and it will dawn on them that CU is the place they want to play.
November 12 @ Arizona. CU should be bowl eligible by now and will be playing loose and with a reckless abandon. They will have the Pac-12 South title squarely in view and AZ will be the next team standing in its way. Expect a double digit win by CU on the road against this Pac-12 opponent. AZ has been ravaged by injuries and is the surprise bottom dweller of the conference this eyear.
November 19 vs. Washington State at Folsom Field. Both teams will be ranked in the top 25 and this is possible a preview of the Pac-12 championship match-up. The game will be sold out. CU will win in a hard fought slug-fest.
November 26 vs. Utah at Folsom Field. This one will be for the Pac-12 South Championship. Everyone will be in a thanksgiving state of mind for the wonder of the 2016 season. The game will be sold out for the second week in a row. Both teams will be ranked in the top 25 for the second game in a row at Folsom. CU will win in convincing fashion.
These coming weeks are going to be special. The Rise is real and it is happening in front of our eyes. Years from now it will be nice to say we were there. We were there when CU imposed their will on any team that stepped foot on Folsom Field grass. We were there when CU become bowl eligible for the first time in over a decade. We were there when CU won the Pac-12 South shocking the college world. These are the days. Winter is coming and ski season will soon be upon us. This special CU season will soon be a fond but distant memory. We’ll be pleased with the behavior we displayed as fans. We will be pleased that we knew that the Fall of 2016 was was special and we fully leaned into it. Let’s enjoy these days for all they are worth. Who has it better than us? No one.
We are a nearly half-way through the season, and thanks to CU’s dominate play, they sit atop the Pac-12 South Standings at 4-1 and ranked #21 nationally. This is more than anyone outside of the CU locker room expected. Yet, there are still skeptics. While ranked, CU has yet to play the main contenders of the Pac-12. CU will have that shot over the next four weeks when they play USC (today at 2PM), ASU at Folsom, on the road at Stanford and then home again vs. UCLA. As a CU fan you have to be excited for the rest of the season. Here are three scenarios as we head into USC:
1) Best case: CU destroys USC. CU is that good, and NOW everyone really does know it. CU continues to run the table and beats Washington in the Pac-12 championship. Due to strength of schedule and key losses by higher ranked teams, CU makes the NCCA playoffs. They play Alabama for the national championship and somehow, someway, CU wins and we are national champs. From basement dweller to national champions. An overnight sensation (which took tens years). One of the greatest turnaround stories of all time in any sport. Just saying.
2) Worst case: CU loses to USC. They proceed to lose to ASU, Stanford, UCLA and AZ. They split wins against Wa St and Utah and finish the season at 5-7. They fail to earn a bowl bid and Coach MacIntyre winds up getting fire.
3) Most probable case: CU plays it’s remainder of the season tough – just like they have all season. They win 6 or 7 games, make it to a bowl game and all is seemingly right with the world.
We’ll let scenario one bake for a few more weeks before going public.
We don’t want scenario 2. That would be the end of the world as we know it. CU can squash scenario 2 today by going into USC and beating the Trojans and this is where it gets interesting. Similar to CU, no one knows how good USC really is. They sit at 2-3 but all three losses come at the hands of ranked opponents (Alabama #1, Stanford #15 and Utah #24). and last week they dismantled ASU (who CU would love to beat next week). It was just a few years ago that USC barely missed winning the national championship for the third year in a row. So while USC has stumbled a bit this year, they are a storied team steeped in winning football tradition. They are also backed into a corner and desperate to salvage their season. There is no way they are interested in lowly Colorado (no matter how much the world seems to think they have improved) ending their season prematurely by handing them their fourth loss for the season.
My predication is a CU win. I love the way CU plays. They have amazing Cornerback and Recievers. They can stop the run they have speed and intelligence at linebacker and they have proven leadership at QB. On Offense opponents (including #4 Michigan) have had trouble stopping the Buffs. All the pressure for this game is on the Trojans. The Buffs are playing with House money. The pressure is going to be too much and the Buffs are too good. CU wins in a close hard fought battle.
When CU played Iowa State in 2005, my oldest brother was visiting me in Monterey, CA. It was Saturday, November 12, and we were excited to catch the CU Buffaloes vs. Iowa State game on TV. My brother was a walk-on CU football player twenty years earlier and CU had been a part of our lifeblood ever since. CU was ranked #22nd in the nation and had been a powerhouse program on and off for the past decade. Back then, it seemed like they were always playing on national TV, contending for the national title (winning in 1990) and always putting out a first-round draft pick. We loved every minute of it but took the whole thing for granted.
Against Iowa St 2005, CU was leading in the 4th quarter, but gave up two late touchdowns and eventually lost the game. My brother and I were bummed. But we had no idea that CU would not be ranked again for nearly eleven years. Not until yesterday would CU find themselves again in the national polls.
As the last seconds ticked away on CU’s total domination of OR St this past Saturday, I couldn’t help but bask in the glow of Colorado finally cracking the top 25. For many years it just seemed impossible. CU sucked too much, and other teams were so much better. Joining the PAC-12 powerhouse didn’t help. The speed of the teams (e.g. OR, Stanford, USC, ASU) was too much. It felt like watching a high school team play against a college team.
I remember watching prime time college football at home after having attended a CU blow out. Regardless who was playing, both teams looked SO MUCH better than CU. I was so jealous of those fans .It was impossible to fathom CU ever getting that good again.
And now they are. Buff Nation can once again bask in the glow of being nationally ranked and being on the other end of those beat downs. Serendipitously while CU is on the upswing, the PAC-12 South seems to be on the down swing. Teams such as UCLA, USC, ASU ,AZ and Utah suddenly seem vulnerable. Maybe, just maybe this is CU’s year.
This Saturday CU travels to LA Coliseum to play the USC Trojans. CU is a six-point underdog and has not beat USC for the past ten meetings. CU’s newly minted national ranking, while very exciting for Buff Nation, can also be a determent. We know we have a good team. Now the college nation knows it as well. This is going to make it more difficult to sneak up on teams. I give CU a 50/50 chance to win @ USC. If we win, we’ll be ranked in the Top 15. If we lose, we’ll drop out of the Top 25. Either way a strong showing against USC will be further evidence that CU is legit.
By the way, CU’s next home game is Saturday, October 15th, against Arizona State. CU has a hard time beating ASU, so this too will be a challenge. The game has been moved to 6pm, to be televised on the Pac-12 network. If CU beats USC, you will see north of 50,000 fans attending the ASU game. Assuming the Fall weather holds up, it stands to be a top ten day of the year (at least for me).
Hard to believe we are less than half-way through the season. It only gets better from here.
