Polls and Bowls

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Polls and Bowls

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November 6th

Playoff Bubble Watch: Colorado “In the Mix”

From The Athletic … On Saturday, while Deion Sanders and Colorado sat at home and Travis Hunter did a Heisman Trophy media tour of national pregame shows, the Buffaloes were among the biggest winners in the College Football Playoff race.

Iowa State lost at home to Texas Tech and trimmed the list of undefeated Big 12 teams to just one. Not long after, Kansas State tripped up in Houston, suffering its second Big 12 loss and falling behind the Buffaloes in the conference standings after beating Colorado last month.

Now Colorado, which won a single conference game a season ago and trailed 28-0 at halftime to Nebraska in Week 2, has a real path to the Playoff. This is the benefit of the current iteration of the Playoff: Every conference race has relevance. And the Buffaloes are right in the thick of the Big 12 race.

Two weeks ago, six teams in the league had one conference loss or fewer. After the inevitable chaos arrived in the most wide-open power conference, there are only three. And one of them is Colorado.

BYU is the Big 12’s lone remaining undefeated team, and the Buffaloes are now tied with Iowa State in second place. The Buffaloes travel to Texas Tech this weekend and finish the season with games against three teams sitting in the bottom four of the conference. Neither BYU nor Iowa State will face Colorado.

Iowa State still has Kansas State and Cincinnati, two teams in the top half of the conference. BYU still has a good chance to finish 12-0 but travels to rival Utah and Arizona State and hosts improving Kansas and Houston.

All Colorado needs to control its fate for the Playoff is one Iowa State loss. If it doesn’t get it, it might still qualify for the Big 12 Championship Game via tiebreakers. (Note: How the tiebreakers are applied likely will depend on if BYU loses and, if it does, who it loses to.)

At that point, Sanders and the Buffs would be 60 minutes away from the Playoff.

Big 12

Kansas State’s and Iowa State’s losses opened the door for an impossibly sexy proposition for the Playoff (see above), but it did major damage to the league’s hopes of landing an at-large bid. Iowa State is the league’s only team with a real shot, but it will have to run the table and hope Kansas State keeps winning to make an Iowa State win in Farmageddon look as good as possible.

Even then, it might take BYU getting to the Big 12 title game and losing to Iowa State, Colorado or K-State for the league to get more than one team.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 5th

CU ranked No. 20 in initial College Football Playoff Rankings

From CBS Sports … The first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with undefeated Oregon opening at No. 1 in the initial year of the expanded 12-team field. Off to a dominant start this season with wins over Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois, the Ducks sit in the top spot seeking to make their second playoff appearance — first since the four-team field debuted after the 2014 season.

Seven of 10 teams ranked No. 1 in a season’s initial CFP Rankings ultimately reached the playoff in the four-team era with Mississippi State (2014), Tennessee (2022) and Ohio State (2023) being the exceptions. With eight more spots in the field this season, Oregon sits in a strong position at 9-0 more than midway through the campaign.

Ohio State, Georgia, Miami (FL) and Texas round out the rest of the top five.

The top Group of Five program in Tuesday’s release is Boise State at No. 12. With the 12-team playoff model granting automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, the Broncos stand in pole position to earn that opportunity should they win their league. Army West Point is the only other Group of Five team in the initial CFP Rankings at No. 25.

College Football Playoff Rankings, Nov. 5

1. Oregon (9-0) | Projected No. 1 seed
2. Ohio State (7-1) | Projected No. 5 seed
3. Georgia (7-1) | Projected No. 2 seed
4. Miami (FL) (9-0) | Projected No. 3 seed
5. Texas (7-1) | Projected No. 6 seed
6. Penn State (7-1) | Projected No. 7 seed
7. Tennessee (7-1) | Projected No. 8 seed
8. Indiana (9-0) | Projected No. 9 seed
9. BYU (8-0) | Projected No. 4 seed
10. Notre Dame (7-1) | Projected No. 10 seed
11. Alabama (6-2) | Projected No. 11 seed
12. Boise State (7-1) | Projected No. 12 seed
13. SMU (8-1)
14. Texas A&M (7-2)
15. LSU (6-2)
16. Ole Miss (7-2)
17. Iowa State (7-1)
18. Pittsburgh (7-1)
19. Kansas State (7-2)
20. Colorado (6-2)
21. Washington State (7-1)
22. Louisville (6-3)
23. Clemson (6-2)
24. Missouri (6-2)
25. Army West Point (8-0)

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November 4th 

CBS Power Rankings: CU up to No. 21

From CBS Sports … The deck has been reshuffled thanks to an entertaining, if not necessarily chaotic, Week 10 in college football. Three undefeated teams fell and five AP Top 25 teams lost to unranked opponents, the second-highest total of the season.

The CBS Sports Power Rankings experienced quite the shock to the system as well. Two top 10 teams in our rankings lost to unranked opponents and seven teams overall in the top 25 lost (five to unranked teams).

Unlike others, our power rankings held true with Penn State, which we refused to lift above Ohio State heading into last week’s showdown with the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions, of course, lost to big brother for the eighth straight time.

The most surprising results occurred in the Big 12, where Iowa State lost at home to Texas Tech and Kansas State fell to Houston on the road. In the SEC, Texas A&M’s 44-20 loss to South Carolina was surprising only for the final score as a 2.5-point road favorite.

The power rankings, however, were duped by Clemson, which jumped into our top 10 last week before a lackluster showing against the much more physical Louisville Cardinals. We won’t be fooled again by the Paper Tigers.

Five undefeated teams remain in the FBS, and only two were ranked in the preseason polls (Oregon and Miami), as the surprising runs of BYU, Indiana and Army continue into the second week of November.

From the Big 12 … 

No. 11 BYU … Up three spots … Two teams benefitted more than others by sitting at home on bye weeks: BYU and Colorado. The Big 12 contenders solidified their spots with Iowa State and Kansas State falling to mid- to low-tier conference opponents. Only BYU controls its destiny in the Big 12 as the lone remaining undefeated team, however. The Holy War at Utah is up next. It’s crazy, but the toughest games of the season might actually be at the end of the schedule: at Arizona State and vs. resurgent Houston.

No. 15 Iowa State … Down five spots … The Cyclones flirted with disaster two times too many. Two weeks after rallying to beat UCF in the final minutes, Iowa State rallied against Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders stormed back and scored with 20 seconds remaining to keep the Cyclones from reaching their first 8-0 start in school history. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht was great, again, and delivered a go-ahead touchdown pass with 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Red Raiders marched down the field for the win.

No. 20 Kansas State … Down four spots … Houston kept it 100, as the kids used to say. Zeon Chriss completed 100% of his throws in the 24-19 upset of Kansas State, completing 11 passes for 103 yards while rushing for 75 yards and accounting for two touchdowns. The Wildcats led 19-10 in the fourth quarter, but turnovers rued the night, including a career-high two interceptions from quarterback Avery Johnson. The most concerning aspect of the loss, however, was how Houston held DJ Giddens to only 50 yards on 17 carries. K-State didn’t eclipse 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.

No. 21 Colorado … Up one spot … Colorado moved up in the Big 12 while sitting at home as the Buffaloes jumped into a tie for second place in the conference (4-1) after Iowa State and Kansas State lost Saturday. If Iowa State loses one more time and Colorado wins out, including the Big 12 Championship Game, the Buffaloes will fulfill Deion Sanders’ dream of reaching the CFP.

… Read full story here …

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November 3rd

Bowling … While the 6-2 Buffs are 4-1 in Big 12 play, bowl selections are, for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, controlled by the old Pac-12 contracts. As a result, CU is not competing with Kansas State and Iowa State for bowl bids, but Washington State and Washington. So … here are the Pac-12 “standings” through Week Nine (only overall records count, not conference standings):

• Oregon – 9-0
• Washington State – 7-1
• Colorado – 6-2
• Arizona State – 6-2
• Washington – 5-4
• Utah – 4-4
• Oregon State – 4-4
• California – 4-4
• USC – 4-5
• UCLA – 3-5
• Arizona – 3-6
• Stanford – 2-7 – eliminated

Okay, and here are the Pac-12’s bowl affiliations, in order of selection:

• College Football Playoff
• Alamo Bowl – San Antonio – December 28th
• Las Vegas Bowl – Las Vegas – December 27th
• Holiday Bowl – San Diego – December 27th
• Sun Bowl – El Paso – December 31st
• Los Angeles Bowl – Los Angeles – December 18th
• Independence Bowl – Shreveport, Louisiana – December 28th
• Other ESPN affiliated bowls …

Now … Bowl selectors can choose a team which is within one game of the team above them. For example, the Alamo Bowl could take Colorado (6-2) over Washington State (7-1), but can’t take a team two games below. So, if Washington State finishes 10-2, and CU 8-4, the Alamo Bowl can’t take the Buffs over the Cougars. Not to complicate things further, but the “Pac-12” representative in the Alamo Bowl will face off against … a Big 12 team (the Independence Bowl is also “Pac-12” v. Big 12). So, CU could theoretically play Iowa State or BYU in the Alamo Bowl or the Independence Bowl.

Whew … so here are some recent projections for Colorado:

• ESPN … Colorado v. SMU or Clemson in the Holiday Bowl
• CBS Sports … Colorado v. South Carolina in the Las Vegas Bowl
• 247 Sports … Colorado v. Ole Miss in the Las Vegas Bowl

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November 2nd

Wilner Hotline: Buffs to the Holiday Bowl, as Washington State a lock for Alamo Bowl

From the San Jose Mercury News … The stretch run of this unprecedented season has arrived in force with a slew of plot twists for the teams tied to Pac-12 bowl games.

Three teams with expectations for high-level success in their new conference, Utah, USC and Washington, are in danger of missing the postseason altogether.

Two teams that hoped to merely secure bowl bids, Colorado and Washington State, are alive in the College Football Playoff chase.

Arizona State has delivered an upside surprise.

Arizona is the epitome of a downside disappointment.

Oregon, Cal, Stanford, UCLA and Oregon State are exactly what we thought they would be, for better or worse.

Three of the 12 are bowl-eligible.

Nobody has been mathematically eliminated, yet.

One week from the release of the first CFP rankings, here are the Hotline’s latest projections for the Pac-12 bowls…

College Football Playoff
Team: Oregon (Big Ten champion)
Comment: Next up for the Ducks (8-0/5-0 Big Ten) is the school’s first trip to the Big House since 2007. Despite their well-chronicled struggles, the unranked Wolverines nonetheless present the toughest road test Oregon has faced this season by a factor of five.

Alamo Bowl
Team: Washington State
Comment: The ceiling is high thanks to the expanded playoff. So, too, is the Cougars’ margin for error — thanks to the mounting loss totals for teams that would otherwise be threats to dislodge WSU (7-1) from its natural place in the Pac-12 bowl pecking order.

Holiday Bowl
Team: Colorado
Comment: Our hunch is the Buffaloes (6-2/4-1 Big 12) need to run the table to qualify for the Big 12 championship game. Yes, they are only one game behind the leaders (Iowa State and BYU), but the head-to-head loss to Kansas State could complicate their tiebreaker status with other two-loss teams.

Las Vegas Bowl
Team: USC
Comment: The Trojans (4-4/2-4 Big Ten) could be a coveted commodity for the Las Vegas Bowl if they finish well or the best of bad options if they stagger through the stretch. Or they could be home for the holidays, which would turn the heat on Lincoln Riley to supernova levels.

Sun Bowl
Team: Arizona State
Comment: Bowl officials are enamored of teams that exceed expectations because fans are energized to buy plane tickets and book hotel rooms. The surprising Sun Devils (5-2/2-2 Big 12) would be a textbook example and thus in relatively high demand.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 1st

Travis Hunter No. 1 on Mel Kiper’s Big Board

From ESPN … The 2024 college football season is into the second half, and we’ve had plenty of time to see the top prospects for the 2025 NFL draft in action. Which players are impressing and look the part of future first-rounders?

After watching game tape over the first half of the season, I’m updating my Big Board for 2025, stacking the top 25 prospects in the class. Remember, this is not a mock draft or prediction of where players will be drafted. These are my personal rankings. Sure, I want to have a realistic board based on how the draft will play out, but my goal is to include the best players based on what I’m seeing and my own evaluations. In addition to the top-25 list, I also ranked the best prospects at every position at the bottom.

1. Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado

Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185 | Prev. rank: 1

2024 stats through eight games: 60 catches, 757 receiving yards, 8 receiving TDs, 22 tackles, 7 pass breakups, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble

Hunter has a great feel for the game on both offense and defense, and he has played a whopping 841 snaps over eight games this season. I really think he has a chance to play both sides of the ball early in his pro career and make an impact both ways, though I’m ranking him as a receiver right now. The offensive and defensive coordinators for the team that ultimately drafts him are going to be battling each other to use him.

Hunter has tremendous hand-eye coordination and elite ball skills. His physical traits and quickness are off the charts, but he also thinks about the game at a high level. He is a highly competitive prospect who works hard to maximize his potential.

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11. Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

Height: 6-2 | Weight: 215 | Prev. rank: 11

2024 stats through eight games: 73.3% completion rate, 2,591 passing yards, 21 TD passes, 6 interceptions, 3 rushing TDs

You won’t find a tougher or more resilient quarterback prospect than Sanders, who took 52 sacks last season but still put up really strong numbers. I’m always impressed watching him throw on the move, rolling either left or right. He is very accurate in those spots and has the arm to drive the ball. When his mechanics and footwork are sound, he can pick apart a defense. And while he’s not necessarily a major rushing threat, he can keep the chains moving with his legs when there is an opening.

… Read full story here …

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October 30th 

ESPN: Colorado still a “long shot” for a Big 12 title game berth

From ESPN … November is almost here, and just as we all expected, the games with the greatest College Football Playoff implications on the first Saturday of November are Ohio State at Penn State … and Pitt at SMU.

With the conference races ramping up, and thanks to the automatic playoff bids attached to them mattering more than ever, each week gives us even more to keep track of. November is going to be one hell of a ride, and every conference race is taking shape in a different way, with variations of both the “Standout favorite(s) with a dark horse or two” theme (Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, MWC, AAC, CUSA) and the “I have absolutely no idea” theme (SEC, MAC, Sun Belt).

Even without any major upsets, Week 9 produced some surprising shifts in terms of conference title odds. So let’s walk through where everything stands heading into college football’s best month.

Big 12 … 

Favorites: BYU 33.8% (up 5.6%), Kansas State 30.1% (up 3.4%), Iowa State 27.4% (down 2.7%).

The Big 12 comes through like no other conference when it comes to producing wild, down-to-the-wire action. The average spread in seven conference games last week was just 4.2 points, and the average scoring margin was just 6.4, with four games decided by five or fewer points.

And yet, despite all these close games, this trio of favorites refuses to give us the chaos we crave. BYU rode a hot early start to a surprisingly easy 37-24 win at UCF, while Kansas State survived quite a scare against rival Kansas, eventually winning 29-27 thanks to a late 51-yard field goal. These teams are a combined 13-1 in conference play, with the only loss coming within the group (BYU beat K-State). There are plenty of close games to come, but these three are making it difficult for anyone else to join the title race.

Fighting chance: none.

Long shots: Colorado 5.2% (up 0.2%), TCU 1.3 (down 0.5%).

TCU’s come-from-ahead, then come-from-behind win over Texas Tech on Saturday kept the Horned Frogs at 3-2 in conference play; they technically still have a shot. But the major name here is Colorado. Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes moved to 4-1 in Big 12 play with a late second-quarter surge and a 34-23 win over Cincinnati. Their 31-28 home loss to Kansas State in Week 7 is holding back their odds, as is the fact that, while they’ve charged from 79th to 37th in SP+, they’re still quite a bit behind the three favorites in that regard. But their home stretch — at Texas Tech, Utah, at Kansas, Oklahoma State — is quite navigable if they continue to improve (and especially if Utah continues to bottom out). If they get to 8-1, things could get weird.

Biggest remaining games: Kansas State at Iowa State (Nov. 30).

Among the five teams listed above, we have only one remaining head-to-head meeting. That’s not optimal, but then again, this is the Big 12: We’ve got 33 remaining conference games, and 22 of them are projected within 7.5 points. Every game is big when you’re a slight favorite at best.

… Read full story here …

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October 29th

Big 12 Power Rankings: CU at No. 4

From the Daily Camera … There’s a new No. 1.

BYU moved into the top spot in this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings, receiving 11 of a possible 16 first-place votes from a panel of media that regular covers the conference.

Iowa State, which had been No. 1 the previous four weeks, dropped to second (five first-place votes). Kansas State and Colorado were unanimous third and fourth, respectively, while TCU climbed into the top 5 – tied with West Virginia – for the first time this season.

Houston made the biggest jump from 16th to 11th after beating Utah on a field goal as time expired.

Oklahoma State is last for the first time this season.

• 1. BYU
• 2. Iowa State
• 3. Kansas State
• 4. Colorado … Previous ranking: 4 … Points: 208 … Record: 6-2 (4-1 Big 12)

Comment: Travis Hunter was back to full strength and he dominated on both sides of the ball (153 receiving yards, 2 TD on offense; 4 pass breakups on defense), while QB Shedeur Sanders was brilliant again. The Buffs scored on their first four possessions and pulled away with 17 straight points in the middle of the game before holding on late against the Bearcats.

Did you know? Head coach Deion Sanders has led the Buffs to bowl eligibility in just his second season in Boulder. In the previous 16 seasons (2008-23), CU won at least six games only one time, in 2016 when it went 10-4 and won the Pac-12 South. The only other bowl appearance in that stretch came in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

• 5. TCU
• 6. West Virginia
• 7. Cincinnati
• 8. Arizona State
• 9. Texas Tech
• 10. Baylor
• 11. Houston
• 12. UCF
• 13. Arizona
• 14. Kansas
• 15. Utah
• 16. Oklahoma State

… Read full story here …

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October 28th

The Athletic 1-134: CU up 17 spots to No. 21

From The Athletic … Indiana is no longer just a fun college football story. That is to say, Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers aren’t some plucky upstart. They’re the real deal. They’re a machine. And it’s time to realize they’re a real threat to make the College Football Playoff.

After beating Washington and becoming the first FBS team in 26 years to start 8-0 without ever trailing, Indiana is up to No. 9 in this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

It is truly wild that a program that went 3-9 last season was favored to beat and then did beat last year’s national runner-up, and that Indiana is likely to be favored against last year’s national champion, Michigan, in a few weeks. The school record for wins is nine, and it would have to take a complete collapse for the Hoosiers to not at least tie that record.

And for the people ready to chime in with, “Who have they played?” — it’s true that the schedule has not been that difficult. But ESPN’s analytics, which rank Indiana’s strength of schedule at No. 106, also rank the Hoosiers’ strength of record at No. 10, crediting them for how they’ve done while factoring in opponent strength. It still matters how you perform against your schedule, and again Indiana hasn’t trailed for a second all season.

It’s been a dream season in Bloomington, and with a remaining schedule that ranks 17th in the country, opportunities for more impactful wins are coming, including against Ohio State.

Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

From the Big 12 … 

• No. 7 … BYU … same as last week
• No. 13 … Iowa State … down one spot
• No. 14 … Kansas State … down one spot
• No. 21 … Colorado … up 17 spots … Welcome to the top 25, Colorado. The Buffs are now 6-2 after beating Cincinnati. They’ve just been a really solid team this season, with fewer people paying attention.
• No. 35 … Arizona State … down one spot
• No. 44 … TCU … up 27 spots
• No. 45 … Texas Tech … down 13 spots
• No. 46 … Cincinnati … down 13 spots
• No. 63 … West Virginia … up 12 spots
• No. 64 … Arizona … down nine spots
• No. 68 … Utah … down 18 spots
• No. 69 … Baylor … up eight spots
• No. 71 … Oklahoma State … down 10 spots
• No. 76 … UCF … down nine spots
• No. 77 … Houston … up 12 spots
• No. 84 … Kansas … same as last week

… Read full story here …

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CBS Power Rankings: CU enters at No. 22

From CBS Sports … What happened to the crazy sport we all love? College football’s three-week drought without a monumental upset has shifted the attention to elimination games in the College Football Playoff race, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but has led to more ho-hum games. Teams ranked in the AP Top 25 have not lost to an unranked team since Week 7, a 23-game streak for the sport’s best teams.

Texas A&M delivered some drama — and a slight upset — with its second-half rally to defeat LSU to sit alone atop the SEC standings. After the win, the Aggies now sit at +500 betting odds to win the conference, according to Caesars Sportsbook.

Still, Week 9 was mostly a disappointment for fans of chaos. SMU somehow survived late Saturday night at Duke despite a six-turnover deficit. Texas did just enough to escape Vanderbilt. Earlier in the day, Nebraska was stopped short again and again of upsetting Ohio State.

Overall, top 25 teams won by an average of 10.4 points against unranked opponents

From the Big 12 … 

10. Iowa State … (same as last week) … Iowa State is still in driver’s seat in the Big 12 and on a collision course with Kansas State in the season finale. The Cyclones were off last week following a 38-35 win against UCF. The Cyclones are a solid, veteran team led by a gamer at quarterback (Rocco Becht). The defense is incredible, leading the nation in pass efficiency defense while allowing only 14.4 points per game. Three of the Cyclones final five games are at home, starting this week with Texas Tech.

14. BYU … (up one from last week) … If you were just flipping among games Saturday and tuned into BYU, you likely never saw the Cougars on defense. BYU held the ball for an incredible 40-plus minutes in a 37-24 win at UCF, rushing for 250-plus yards for the second straight game. BYU is 8-0 for the fifth time in school history, and with the easy schedule that remains, an undefeated regular season is not out of the question. The trip to Arizona State on Nov. 23 might be the most challenging game before the Big 12 title tilt.

16. Kansas State … (up one from last week) … Kansas State is lucky to still be ranked, but a win is a win, especially in crazy rivalry games. Kansas’ Jalon Daniels fumbled the game away in the final minutes, giving Kansas State the ball and an opportunity to kick the game-winning field goal, a 51-yarder with 1:42 remaining. Kansas State held on 29-27 as Kansas’ four possessions in the fourth quarter ended with punts or turnovers. K-State quarterback Avery Johnson had a career-high 320 yards and improved to 8-1 as the starter.

22. Colorado … (unranked last week) … Welcome aboard, Colorado. You know the Buffaloes are experiencing success when they’re not garnering a lot of attention. Winning is boring for the casual fans who hate-watch the reality show that is Colorado football. The Buffs are bowl eligible with six wins for the first time since 2016 and still in the hunt for a Big 12 title following a 34-23 win against resurgent Cincinnati. Travis Hunter was again incredible, recording a season-high 153 receiving yards and two touchdowns at receiver in addition to four pass breakups at cornerback as his snaps increased to 132 plays after two weeks of limited action because of injury. His absurd performance should lift him back into the Heisman Trophy race.

… Read full story here …

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October 27th 

Bowling … While the 6-2 Buffs are 4-1 in Big 12 play, bowl selections are, for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, controlled by the old Pac-12 contracts. As a result, CU is not competing with Kansas State and Iowa State for bowl bids, but Washington State and USC. So … here are the Pac-12 “standings” through Week Nine (only overall records count, not conference standings):

• Oregon – 8-0
• Washington State – 7-1
• Colorado – 6-2
• Arizona State – 5-2
• Washington – 4-4
• USC – 4-4
• Utah – 4-4
• Oregon State – 4-4
• California – 4-4
• Arizona – 3-5
• UCLA – 2-5
• Stanford – 2-6

Okay, and here are the Pac-12’s bowl affiliations, in order of selection:

• College Football Playoff
• Alamo Bowl – San Antonio – December 28th
• Las Vegas Bowl – Las Vegas – December 27th
• Holiday Bowl – San Diego – December 27th
• Sun Bowl – El Paso – December 31st
• Los Angeles Bowl – Los Angeles – December 18th
• Independence Bowl – Shreveport, Louisiana – December 28th
• Other ESPN affiliated bowls …

Now … Bowl selectors can choose a team which is within one game of the team above them. For example, the Alamo Bowl could take Colorado (6-2) over Washington State (7-1), but can’t take a team two games below. So, if Washington State finishes 10-2, and CU 8-4, the Alamo Bowl can’t take the Buffs over the Cougars. Not to complicate things further, but the “Pac-12” representative in the Alamo Bowl will face off against … a Big 12 team (the Independence Bowl is also “Pac-12” v. Big 12). So, CU could theoretically play Iowa State or BYU in the Alamo Bowl or the Independence Bowl.

Whew … so here are some recent projections for Colorado:

• ESPN … Colorado v. SMU in the Holiday Bowl
• CBS Sports … Colorado v. Vanderbilt in the Las Vegas Bowl
• 247 Sports … Colorado v. Ole Miss in the Las Vegas Bowl

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October 27th 

Colorado returns to the Associated Press poll; Buffs at No. 26 in Coaches poll

… In the coaches poll, CU is in at No. 26, with 75 votes, one short of No. 25 Memphis, which had 76 votes … 

… Note … Landing at No. 23 today in the AP poll, this is just the 3rd time in the last 22 seasons that Colorado will go into November as an AP Top 25 team. The only other times in that stretch: 2005 and 2016 …

From ESPN … Miami edged ahead of Texas and climbed to No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Sunday for its highest ranking since 2017, while Notre Dame, BYU and Texas A&M all moved into the top 10.

Oregon, Georgia, Penn State and Ohio State remained the top four teams, and Washington State and Colorado entered the Top 25 for the first time this season.

Led by Heisman Trophy candidate Cam Ward, Miami improved to 8-0 with its win over Florida State on Saturday. The Hurricanes have been in the top 10 for eight straight polls but not this high since they spent two weeks at No. 2 in November 2017.

Texas, which had dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 after its home loss to Georgia, slipped another spot to No. 6 following a three-point win at Vanderbilt.

Associated Press poll … 

Others receiving votes … Vanderbilt 41, Memphis 34, Tulane 28, Navy 23, Louisville 5, UNLV 4, Arkansas 4, Lafayette 3, South Carolina 1

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ESPN Power Rankings: Colorado in at No. 22

From ESPN … Compared to the past few weeks, it was a somewhat ho-hum Week 9 in college football. Four AP-ranked teams lost, but each lost to a fellow ranked opponent.

Ohio State and Penn State both survived scares, setting up a top-five showdown next week in State College.

How did Saturday’s action affect our Power Rankings?

Here’s the latest top 25 from our college football experts, who provide their insight on each team’s Week 9 performance.

From the Big 12 … 

No. 8 BYU Cougars

Previous ranking: 9

After squeaking by Oklahoma State last week, BYU put together a stronger performance on the road Saturday, easily taking down UCF 37-24. The Cougars jumped out to a 17-0 lead and led by as many as 24 in the second half to move to 8-0. BYU now heads into the bye with the rivalry game against Utah looming on Nov. 9. With Utah struggling, it’s a game the Cougars should win with ease. However, given the rivalry stakes, it also sets up as game that could get weird. Still, it’s hard to see how Utah’s struggling offense will be able to do much against BYU given the trajectory of both teams.

No. 12 Iowa State Cyclones

Previous ranking: 10

The Cyclones are 7-0 for just the second time in program history and hit their final five regular-season games buoyed by the Big 12’s No. 1 defense despite a series of key injuries at the heart of Jon Heacock’s 3-3-5 defense. Off in Week 9, Iowa State will enter its Week 10 visit from Texas Tech leading the conference in total defense (304.0 YPG), pass defense (133.7 YPG) and scoring defense (14.4 PPG) this fall. But injuries to top linebacker Caleb Bacon, Will McLaughlin, Carson Willich and Cael Brezina have decimated the Cyclones’ run defense, leaving Iowa State ranked 15th in the Big 12 giving up 170.3 rushing yards per game. UCF exposed the Cyclones’ issues against the run when it racked up 354 rushing yards in Ames in Week 8, and it’s Iowa State’s trouble stopping the run that poses the biggest threat to the program’s postseason aspirations.

No. 17 Kansas State Wildcats

Previous ranking: 17

The Wildcats avoided a consequential upset to rival Kansas when Chris Tennant kicked a 51-yard field goal with 1:42 left in a 29-27 win. The win keeps Kansas State a game back of both BYU and Iowa State in the Big 12 standings, which means if it wins out it would be guaranteed a place in the conference title game. (It plays Iowa State in the regular-season finale). Defensively, K-State stood tall when it mattered, holding Kansas without a point on its final four drives over which the Jayhawks gained just a combined 30 yards.

No. 22 Colorado Buffaloes

Previous ranking: NR

Back in the spring, Colorado coach Deion Sanders guaranteed a bowl berth this season, and the Buffaloes have already accomplished that eight games in after a 34-23 win over Cincinnati. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter took on starring roles again, but the entire team has taken a step forward after a 4-8 debut season under Sanders, which also included a 1-8 mark in league play. Colorado is 4-1 in the Big 12 with more to come. The Buffaloes have been vastly improved in many areas, but one where they can continue to get better in is run defense, where they are allowing nearly 4 yards per carry. Colorado is off next week before going on the road to play Texas Tech to keep its sleeper Big 12 championship hopes alive.

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This post, about the Texas Tech game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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