Rankings and Ratings

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Rankings and Ratings 

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October 20th

CBS and College Football News

From CBS … Colorado at Stanford: Cardinal star Christian McCaffrey is still questionable with an undisclosed leg injury. Stanford will need all the help they can get taking on a top-15 defense in the country that has really come along under coach Mike McIntyre. The injuries to Stanford’s secondary have been well documented as a reason for the past few weeks struggle. The Cardinal is closer to 100 percent with only defensive back Alijah Holder being questionable for this week’s game. The biggest question is whether or not Stanford can score enough points to hang with the Buffs, who are 14th in the country in total offense. Stanford isn’t built to win in a shootout and this game could get out of hand if the Buffs get hot early. Expect Colorado to continue their quest for the Pac-12 South with a win over Stanford. Pick: Colorado

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From College Football News … Stanford is still in the Pac-12 race, but it needs a whole lot of help. At the very least, even at 4-2, it’s still in the hunt for the Rose Bowl if Washington goes off to the College Football Playoff. But first, the Cardinal have to find more of an offense despite its star hurting, and they’ve got to show off just enough firepower to prove they can keep up with a real offense.

USC wasn’t the USC it is now when the two played back in mid-September, and Washington and Washington State exposed Stanford’s lack of a downfield passing game.

Colorado has the potential to do the same.

While Stanford is looking for a good bowl game, the Buffs are still deep in the hunt for the Pac-12 South championship with three of their last four games at home and the lone remaining road trip at Arizona.

Just when they started to struggle a bit with the loss at USC, they came back roaring against a hobbled Arizona State with the offense firing on all cylinders and the defense proving it could shut down just about anyone’s passing game.

But can Colorado get down, dirty and physical? It’s not a fair sample, but they couldn’t do much against the Michigan offense on the road when they got pounded on. Stanford has to at least give it a try.

The Cardinal have just five touchdown passes on the year, and most of the throws and completions are the dinking and dunking kind. They need to pound away with the running game no matter who’s in the backfield. Christian McCaffrey is supposedly better, but Bryce Love proved last week he could handle the workload, tearing off 129 yards in the win over Notre Dame.

But Colorado is the absolute real deal, and it’s about to show it again.

Sefo Liufau continues to be fantastic when he’s able to get on the field, hitting Arizona State hard for 265 yards on a 23-of-31 day. That, combined with the turnover issues – Stanford is unStanford-like ranking 112th in the nation in turnover margin – will be enough to get through the tough road game.

The Buffs won’t explode like Washington and Washington State did against the Cardinal, but the offense will be steady, balanced, and will get what it needs out of the defense to stay alive in the Pac-12 chase.

Colorado vs. Stanford Prediction:

Final Score: Colorado 27, Stanford 23

Line: Stanford -2, o/u: 49.5

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October 18th

ESPN – Mike MacIntyre mid-season Coach-of-the-Year

From ESPN …

Coach of the year

Schlabach says … Mike MacIntyre, Colorado

After winning a total of two Pac-12 games in MacIntyre’s first three seasons, the Buffaloes are 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the league, and in the thick of the Pac-12 South race.

… There is a voting competition going on at the ESPN site, with fans asked to pick the offensive and defensive Players of the Year along with the Coach of the Year. Mike MacIntyre is listed, along with Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, Washington’s Chris Petersen, Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.

As of this writing, MacIntyre is third in the balloting, with 17% of the vote, trailing Chris Petersen (32%) and Jim Harbaugh (26%). If you would like to vote for Coach MacIntyre, you can do so here …

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October 17th

Hot Seat Rankings … Mike MacIntyre’s fall continues

Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre was No. 6 on the Coaches Hot Seat Ranking website in the preseason. With a 5-2 record, MacIntyre has dropped all the way to No. 80.

The Pac-12: 

No. 4 – Mark Helfrich – Oregon

No. 19 – Gary Anderson – Oregon State

No. 27 – Rich Rodriguez – Arizona

No. 29 – Todd Graham – Arizona State

No. 30 – Clay Helton – USC

No. 46 – Jim Mora – UCLA

No. 65 – David Shaw – Stanford

No. 76 – Sonny Dykes – California

No. 80 – Mike MacIntyre – Colorado

No. 107 – Mike Leach – Washington State

No. 120 – Kyle Whittingham – Utah

No. 124 – Chris Peterson – Washington

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CBS – Colorado back into the Top 25 in 1-128

From CBS Sports …

The Pac-12:

5. Washington (down 1)

21. Colorado (up 8)

Biggest movers: Colorado (+8): A slight downgrade following the loss to USC was immediately eliminated by a very impressive win against Arizona State

23. Utah (down 1)

27. USC (up 6)

29. Washington State (up 6)

43. Stanford (down 9)

46. Arizona State (down 19)

48. UCLA (down 8)

62. Cal (down 1)

95. Oregon (up 2)

97. Arizona (down 12)

103. Oregon State (down 2)

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Athlon has CU as the No. 25 team in the nation

From Athlon Sports …

The Pac-12: 

6. Washington (6-0)

Week 7 Result: Bye Week

Last Week: 6

Week 8 Opponent: Oregon State

Huskies hope to keep their momentum rolling against Oregon State in Week 8, while a tough road trip to Utah looms in Week 9.

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22. Utah (6-1)

Week 7 Result: Beat Oregon State 19-14

Last Week: 23

Week 8 Opponent: at UCLA

Weather conditions and injuries took a toll on Utah in Saturday’s 19-14 win over Oregon State.

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25. Colorado (5-2)

Week 7 Result: Beat Arizona State 40-16

Last Week: NR

Week 8 Opponent: at Stanford

Buffaloes already have three Pac-12 victories after having just one from 2014-15.

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Jerry Palm sees the light … Colorado projected to play in Holiday Bowl

From CBS Sports … A week after predicting Colorado would finish 5-7 and out of bowl bid consideration, Jerry Palm at CBS Sports has had a change of heart. The Buffs are no longer on the outside looking in, but are now No. 4 in the Pac-12 bowl pecking order, slated to play in the Holiday Bowl against Penn State.

The Pac-12 …

— College Football Playoff – Washington v. Alabama

— Rose Bowl – Michigan v. Stanford (Palm still sees the Cardinal as the second-best team in the Pac-12)

— Alamo Bowl – Baylor v. Utah

— Holiday Bowl – Penn State v. Colorado

— Foster Farms Bowl – Indiana v. Washington State

— Sun Bowl – Wake Forest v. Arizona State

— Las Vegas Bowl – San Diego State v. UCLA

— Cactus Bowl – Kansas State v. USC

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October 16th

Buffs just outside the polls – No. 26 in both AP and USA Today coaches poll

In the Associated Press poll, Colorado received 121 votes, just behind No. 25 LSU, which had 123.

In the USA Today coaches poll, Colorado received 121 votes, just behind No. 25 Navy, which had 133.

The Associated Press poll:

Others Receiving Votes: Colorado (5-2) 121; South Florida (6-1) 108; Miami (Fla.) (4-2) 74; Oklahoma State (4-2) 51; Washington State (4-2) 49; Virginia Tech (4-2) 37; NC State (4-2) 18; Stanford (4-2) 16; Memphis (5-1) 14; San Diego State (5-1) 13; Troy (5-1) 10; Pittsburgh (5-2) 7; Arizona State (5-2) 6; Southern California (4-3) 6; TCU (4-2) 6; Iowa (5-2) 4; Appalachian State (4-2) 2; Brigham Young (4-3) 1; Tulsa (4-2) 1

The USA Today coaches’ poll

Others Receiving Votes: Colorado (5-2) 121; South Florida (6-1) 108; Miami (Fla.) (4-2) 74; Oklahoma State (4-2) 51; Washington State (4-2) 49; Virginia Tech (4-2) 37; NC State (4-2) 18; Stanford (4-2) 16; Memphis (5-1) 14; San Diego State (5-1) 13; Troy (5-1) 10; Pittsburgh (5-2) 7; Arizona State (5-2) 6; Southern California (4-3) 6; TCU (4-2) 6; Iowa (5-2) 4; Appalachian State (4-2) 2; Brigham Young (4-3) 1; Tulsa (4-2) 1

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ESPN bowl projections … CU heading to San Diego

From ESPN … The Huskies were off this week, so they keep the top spot. Although Utah’s triumph wasn’t pretty, there isn’t enough reason to supplant them from that Rose Bowl projection just yet. Colorado got back on the winning track — at 5-2, the Buffs have laid claim to the upper tier of the Pac-12 — and USC entered full surge mode …

Here’s the pecking order entering that slate:

College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:Washington

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual: Utah

Valero Alamo Bowl: Washington State

Holiday Bowl: Colorado

Foster Farms Bowl: Stanford

Hyundai Sun Bowl: USC

Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona State

Cactus Bowl: UCLA

At-large: California

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ESPN Pac-12 Power Rankings … Colorado in at No. 3

From ESPN … Welcome to the Week 7 Pac-12 power rankings. You can see last week’s rankings here. If you don’t like where you’re ranked, play better.

3. Colorado 5-2, 3-1 (No. 4 last week)

Clearly not swayed by Arizona State having the No. 1 statistical rushing defense in the conference, the Buffs not-so-delicately inserted the ball down ASU’s throat to the tune of 315 yards and five touchdowns. Sefo Liufau looked very efficient in his return, Phillip Lindsay (219 yards, three touchdowns) was outstanding, and the defense — headlined by Jimmie Gilbert — was punishing. Next up is a trip to Stanford with bowl eligibility within Colorado’s grasp. (But I think we all know this team has grander aspirations.)

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October 14th

USA Today bowl projections … CU to the Cactus Bowl to face Big 12 rival Kansas State

… It’s nice to be projected for a bowl game, but, with USA Today projecting Arizona State to the Rose Bowl, we know that the powers that be at the USA Today believe the Sun Devils will defeat the Buffs …

From azcentral.com …

USA TODAY Sports’ Pac-12 bowl predictions:

• Dec. 17: San Diego State vs. UCLA (Las Vegas Bowl)
• Dec. 26: Wake Forest vs. California (Independence Bowl)
• Dec. 27: Kansas State vs. Colorado (Cactus Bowl)
• Dec. 27: Penn State vs. Washington State (Holiday Bowl)
• Dec. 28: Minnesota vs. Stanford (Foster Farms Bowl)
• Dec. 29: Oklahoma State vs. Utah (Alamo Bowl)
• Dec. 30: Miami vs. USC (Sun Bowl)
• Dec. 31: Alabama vs. Washington, College Football Playoff semifinal (Peach Bowl)
• Jan. 2: Michigan vs. ASU (Rose Bowl)

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This post, about the Stanford game, from the 2016 Season, is filed under Game.
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