The road was daunting for Deion Sanders when he took the job to become the head coach at the University of Colorado. They were 1-11 a year ago. They totally revamped their team in the transfer portal. This was year one of what looked like a big-time rebuild. But after they beat TCU in Week 1, they were allowed to dream big. Maybe a bowl game was in their range of outcomes. For a team that won one game last season, a bowl game birth would be a big deal.
After starting 3-0, those dreams were halfway to fruition. But then Colorado lost two straight games to Oregon and USC in rather unconvincing fashion. They were able to rebound with a win over Arizona State, but their chances at a bowl game took a huge hit on Friday night. Colorado led 29-0 heading into halftime at home against the Stanford Cardinal, who were 1-4 on the year heading into that game. Stanford climbed all the way back and ending up pulling off the comeback, taking down the Buffaloes 46-43 in double overtime.
Colorado stands at 4-3 on the season. They still need only two more wins to become bowl-eligible, but those will not be easy to come by. Their remaining schedule is an absolute grind. UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State, and Utah are what is left on Colorado's schedule. The only home games Colorado has left are against Arizona and Oregon State. All of those teams but Arizona have been ranked inside the top 25 at some point this season too. It's a brutal stretch, but which games could Colorado win?
Arizona Wildcats
With all due respect to the Wildcats, who are playing exceptional ball under head coach Jedd Fisch, but Colorado has to win this game if they have any hope of making a bowl game. Arizona is not an easy team to play against either. They took USC to double overtime a couple of weeks ago and only lost by one touchdown against Washington the week prior. Last week, they beat the breaks off of Washington State, whooping them by a score of 44-6.
Arizona is allowing on average only 20.6 points per game. Considering who they have played the last three weeks, that is super impressive. If they can make those teams earn hard-fought victories, they should be more than able to give Colorado a fight. But Colorado does get them at home. That's a winnable game. It's also losable, but it's a game the Buffaloes have to get.
Washington State
Again, it is very tough to find wins for Colorado considering who is left on their schedule. But Washington State could be a team they nudge by against. Weird stuff happens all the time in Pullman. The Cougars are very tough to play there, as evidenced by their home wins over Wisconsin and Oregon State. But the Cougars also just got their doors broken off at home by Arizona.
The Cougs have lost their last two games and look on paper to be a team Colorado can match up with. Washington State has given up 419.7 yards per game this season. Only Colorado and Stanford have given up more. Those are the only teams that give up more passing yards per game than the 272.5 Washington State relinquishes.
Colorado's defense doesn't do them many favors. Right now, they have to outscore teams to beat them. Washington State presents the least formidable defense left on Colorado's schedule. They'll have to win a shootout to beat them. Luckily for the Buffaloes, they've already proven they can do that with their Week 1 over TCU.
Colorado come up
Arizona and Washington State are both solid teams, but those are teams that Colorado can beat. If Colorado can get by them, they can go bowling in the first season of the Deion Sanders era. This season has already been a success with Sanders and Colorado putting themselves on the map, but a bowl game would make for a nice cherry on top of this rebound season.
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