The Pac-12 conference has finally released their schedule for the 2012 football season, the second for the conference now that it includes 12 teams. For the Colorado Buffaloes, the reality of a much easier slate is now official, but that doesn't mean the Buffs are getting off lightly.
Colorado vs. Colorado State - Saturday, September 1st
Sacramento State at Colorado - Saturday, September 8th
Colorado at Fresno State - Saturday, September 15th
Colorado at Washington State - Saturday, September 22nd
UCLA at Colorado - Saturday, September 29th
Arizona State at Colorado - Thursday, October 11th
Colorado at USC - Saturday, October 20th
Colorado at Oregon - Saturday, October 27th
Stanford at Colorado - Saturday, November 3rd
Colorado at Arizona - Saturday, November 10th
Washington at Colorado - Saturday, November 17th
Utah at Colorado - Friday, November 23rd
Check out the full conference schedule here and some quick notes after the jump...
- Overall, this is a much easier slate for a Buffaloes team that is still deep in the rebuilding process. The non-conference schedule is much lighter and the Buffs get a bye week at an opportune time. With so much coaching turnover it will be hard to forecast a lot of the teams in this conference heading into next fall. We know that USC and Oregon will be the breadwinners at the top of their respective divisions. We can assume that Stanford will take a step back and that it could be Washington taking their place if a replacement for Chris Polk can be found. We know that we know nothing about all of the teams with new coaches. Most importantly, we know that next year is going to be a fun one for Pac-12 football.
- Not much to say about the non-conference schedule. The Buffs go from Hawaii, California, Ohio State and Colorado State to Sacramento State, Fresno State (with a new head coach) and Colorado State (with a new head coach). Plus, the Buffs actually get a bye week this year and it comes at a pretty good time, near mid-season.
- Speaking of head coaches, the Buffaloes will play a whopping SIX teams with a new man in charge, including four in a row at one point.
- The toughest portion of the schedule is obviously going to Oregon and USC back-to-back, but the Buffs weren't going to win those games at home either so it's actually not a bad thing that they're on the road this year.
Your turn. What does everyone think?