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.