*Just to make this extra clear, this is a letter from me, NOT from all Colorado fans. And I'm not actually sending it to them (though I could...). What do you want to say to them?

Dear Colorado FB Coaching Staff,

Thank you for coming here to clean up the mess that has been left by your predecessors. Y'all have been here for a year now and there are things I'd like to say. First of all, I understand that last year was difficult. A long and arduous schedule, coupled with depth and talent deficiencies left by the previous coaching staff, meant last year was going to be rough even before it started. But I also expect a lot, as do the rest of Buff Nation. I hope you learned enough on the fly in 2011, because I want to see more in 2012.

Follow the jump to see just how demanding I can be!

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Dear Colorado Football Fans,

First, I'd like to give you a hug. You deserve it. These last six years have tried your loyalty. You've seen a high-profile coaching hire fall flat on his face. You've started Bernard Jackson and Cody Hawkins at quarterback. You haven't seen a winning season. You've seen some prestigious marks fall, such as the 242 game scoring streak that was broken by Missouri in 2008. You've also seen some ignominious records set, like the four-plus year losing streak outside the state of Colorado. Thankfully, that record was broken right at the end of the year, which also saved another record from being set: most losses in a Colorado football season ever. You've seen a high number of big-time recruits fail to live up to expectations. And you've seen a coaching staff with deep ties to the university struggle through a difficult first season.

But enough with the hugging. It's time for some advice: suck it up.

Follow the jump for more from my soap box!

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Examining Colorado, Pac-12, and Big XII Football over the last 10 years using the Hist-O-Graph...and then saying stuff. eating pecan pie.

Don't know what the Hist-o-Graph project is? Lemme e'splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up:

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but they apparently don't satisfy the word-count requirement, so make the jump so I can stop eating pecan pie long enough to say some stuff...

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The Colorado Buffaloes 2011 football season is over! Thank goodness, that was a rough one. And we managed to end it on a good note: an upset win over the Utah Utes, who were hoping for a chance to make it into the conference championship game. But we ended any hope they had for Pac 12 glory in their first season as a conference member. Anyway, on to how our 2011 opponents fared!

Hawaii Warriors (6-6, 3-4 WAC)

The Rainbow Warriors' David Graves started his first game at QB and accounted for 3 TDs before leaving the game (head injury) and being replaced by Shane Austin, who went 9-10 and directed the game-sealing TD drive. There is talk of a possible QB controversy going into their game against BYU this weekend. Watch for both guys to get some playing time.

Follow the jump to watch me learn how to Dougie!

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It's over. It's the final turn of the page, in my opinion, from the last regime to the new one. 23 road losses can be flushed down the drain and we can move on.

It has been the first thing many brought up when discussing the state of the program the last four years. It has been that gray cloud hanging over this team; a way to define the University of Colorado football program.

Done.

Coming into the game as 22.5 point underdogs against a team who had a great shot to win the Pac-12 South, it didn't seem like the Colorado Buffaloes would break the dubious road losing streak today.

But Jon Embree set a goal at the beginning of the season, he wanted this win when the Buffs took on Hawaii the first game of the year. He wanted the monkey off this program's back. He set a goal for this team and they accomplished it today against the odds. Embree got his first signature win of his career in the season finale.

Colorado led start to finish, never trailed. Coming out of the gates on the first drive of the game, the offense went 80 yards on 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead against the home team Utes. Shortly thereafter, the Buffs' defense responded and sent the Utah offense to the sideline after just three plays. A three and out. Colorado finally started a game well. Instead of getting behind like they did a week ago 21-0 to UCLA and like they have done so many times in the past, they set the tone, they put the pressure on the opposition. The defense played extremely well in the first half, allowing only 39 yards on 18 plays, forcing four punts.

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Examining Colorado, Pac-12, and Big XII Football over the last 10 years using the Hist-O-Graph...and then saying stuff.

"So, it is down to you, and it is down to me."  Anyone keeping track at home (or at the office, I'm not one to judge) knew Utah would be compared to Nebraska. It's fitting in numerous ways, but it puts me in a bind; I hate the color red and all its inbred little red brothers and sisters.  See? You can't even spell 'inbred' without red.

Additionally, we've had an influx of Uters onto the message boards this week. I want them to understand the hist-o-graph too, but I know that many of them are semi-literate at best.  So for keeping that filthy color off our frontpage and also letting the Utaahns know what-the-flying-flip is going on with the Hist-O-Graph; we're starting with Colorado's graph.  (If it still makes no sense, there's a link to the explanatory article after the jump).

Uterds, if numbers gives you a sad, then just make the jump and just bang your hands on your keyboards in the comments section...

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Examining Colorado, Pac-12, and Big XII Football over the last 10 years using the Hist-O-Graph...and then saying stuff.

This week our pair of teams are perennially better at Basketball than they are Football.  Any discussion with their fans will have you adding 'in football' to everything you say, because they're genuinely confused as to why you're ripping their storied and successful program (not in football).

Neither has won their conference in the last decade (ever in one case), which is common in the Big-12, and uncommon in the Pac-10.  They've each also only had one good season over the last ten years; solidifying that both UCLA and Kansas are ultimately Basketball-first... ...and Football-maybe.

The UCLA Bruins Hist-O-Graph: Doing Less With More

If anyone tries to tell you that UCLA is a 'storied and strong' program (in football), laugh.  They may play in the Rose Bowl, but they don't play in the Rose Bowl. At least not often, and not since '98, their last Pac-10 Championship.

They may have a National Championship (in '54), and a Heisman trophy winner (in '67), but ask them how many points Karim Abdul-Jabbar scored (in football), or how many all time wins they have (in football) and if it's more or less than Kansas... It isn't.

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Examining Colorado, Pac-12, and Big XII Football over the last 10 years using the Hist-O-Graph...and then saying stuff.

In running a comparison of our old conference-mates and our new ones, someone inevitably was going to wind up compared to Baylor. Not because it's fair, or even that it'll ever be a fair comparison, but because I made the numbers work out that way.

The Arizona Wildcats Hist-O-Graph: Drawing the Short Straw

You could say that Arizona's been drawing the short straw for a long time now. They're in Tucson instead of Tempe.  They got Mike Stoops ('04-'10) instead of Bob Stoops. They're good at basketball instead of football.

Sorry Wildcats, but you drew the short straw. You're the most like Baylor of all the Pac-12. Here's why...

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