Buff Nation –
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.
Go Buffs!
Doug