Spring/Summer – 2018

LAST DAY to contribute! … Which will come first: 100 donors (98), or $5,000 donated ($4,760)?

CFN: CU not a safe bet to go bowling … K James Stefanou and P Alex Kinney on national watch lists

CSU has gone 7-6 each of the past three seasons … but may struggle to even get to that record in 2018

Utah was 5-6 heading into the CU game last November, but now are considered contenders – Are the Utes legit?

The Herm Edwards era begins in Tempe … Will the Buffs exact revenge for the 2017 game which got away?

CU v. Kahlil Tate … The CU 2018 Redemption Tour hits Tucson for some Friday night lights Nov. 2nd

Let’s not belabor the point made above.

In its history, Colorado has had 12 opportunities to defeat a USC team, and has come away empty handed 12 times.

Seven of those losses have come since Colorado joined the Pac-12, and the first four were routs (42-17, 50-6, 47-29, and 56-28). The three most recent games were agonizingly close (27-24, 21-17, and last season’s 38-24, above).

Will the 2018 game be another close game?

Or will it be a return to the routs of the not-too-distant past?

If Colorado were facing Cal in the 2018 season opener, it would be a tough call as to how the game would turn out. Both teams finished 5-7, 2-7 last season. Fans for both teams have reason for optimism; fans for both teams have reason for concern.

By the time Thanksgiving weekend rolls around, however, much more will be known about both teams.

Colorado or Cal  or both – could be a surprise team in 2018, making a move in the Pac-12 standings.

Colorado or Cal – or both – could be a disappointment in 2018.

As Washington is facing Oregon in Eugene, Colorado will be taking on USC in Los Angeles.

Back-to-back games against the top two teams in the Pac-12 is tough enough.

Back-to-back games against the top two teams in the Pac-12 – with both on the road – is next to impossible.

Take Chip Kelly out of the equation, and you would have to like CU’s chances against UCLA this fall.

The Buffs beat the Bruins, 20-10 in 2016, the last time the teams played in Boulder, and wouda/coulda/shoulda beaten the Bruins in the Rose Bowl last season. Unlike a few other opponents in the conference, the Buffs have held their own against UCLA in recent Pac-12 play.

Take the following resume of an FBS team heading into the 2018 season:

— A 4-8 record the previous season, with the head coach being fired;

— A team which, but for a game-winning touchdown in the last 14 seconds against a mediocre opponent (Purdue) on October 28th, would be entering the fall on a seven-game losing streak;

— A defense which ranked 100th or worse in numerous statistical categories, including total defense and scoring defense. A defense which gave up 54, 56, and 56 points in its final three games of 2017;

— An offense which will be featuring a quarterback entering the season with no collegiate starts.

Given those bare facts, most Colorado fans would be salivating at the opportunity to take on just such an opponent.

But … this particular 4-8 team is Nebraska, and the game will be in Lincoln (September 8th, 1:30 p.m., MT, ABC). Scott Frost has returned to make Nebraska great again, and there will be 85,000 fans on hand in September in his first game against a Power-Five opponent as the Cornhusker head coach. The game will be televised by ABC, and will receive national attention.

New Hampshire doesn’t have a long list of recent FBS opponents. The Wildcats traveled to play San Diego State for the 2016 opener, falling 31-0. New Hampshire also made the cross-country trip to California in 2015, losing 43-13 to San Jose State. In 2015, New Hampshire took on Toledo, falling 54-20 (faring about the same as did the Buffs when CU played in the Glass Bowl, a 54-38 embarrassment in 2009).

By any measure, Colorado has the advantage over New Hampshire. The Buffs are bigger, stronger, and faster.

Since 2015, only USC and Stanford have compiled more Pac-12 wins than Washington State, and the Cougs have the same record in conference games as rival Washington, 19-8.

At the same time, Washington State hasn’t signed a class in the top half of the Pac-12 during Leach’s tenure. In fact, the last Cougars signing class to rank in the top half of the conference was in 2004.

Doing more with less … the Washington State way under Mike Leach.

Oregon State looks like a team which is likely to win only 2-4 games. 

After the Ohio State thrashing, winnable there are winnable non-conference games against Southern Utah and Nevada. In Pac-12 play, the best hopes for victory are home games against Washington State and Cal … in the two weeks leading up to the Beavers’ trip to Boulder on October 27th.

Jon Wilner’s Pac-12 draft report: CU on “Rising” list … 2018: Sixth draft in ten with fewer than two Buffs taken