Forgotten Glory? What If Colorado Had Always Been In The Pac-12?

After Buffaloes Athletic Director Mike Bohn' made a mockery of the current state of the Colorado program yesterday, the local and national media piled on and began asking why anyone would want to take the open head coaching position at the University. It's been such an awful last 10 years, that players, recruits, fans and media alike tend to forget the storied history and relevance of the Colorado program.

A recent story from our friends at Pacific Takes is a great remdiner of just where this football program has been. With the match-up between UCLA and Stanford coming up on Friday, Jack Follman decided to take a look at historical records and plug-in who would have participated in the game every year since 1978. From 1989 to 2001, the Buffaloes would have been a representative in the Pac-12 Championship Game 7 out of 13 times, a pretty ridiculous number when you think about it. Of course all of this is just conjecture as schedules and match-ups would change and results could vary drastically, but it's a fun reminder of where this program has been and where we hope to get back to with this next head coach hire.

Check out the full story here.

1989: Washington (7-4) at Colorado (11-0, #1)

And... the Huskies are right back. The Huskies and Buffaloes actually met early in the season in Husky Stadium and an easy victory helped spark Colorado's undefeated season. The first championship game to feature a top-ranked team, this would be viewed as an easy win for Colorado.

Fake prediction - Colorado 48-27 - Eyeing a national championship, the Buffaloes would roll.

1990: Washington (9-2, #8) at Colorado (10-1-1, #1)

This would actually be a rematch of a game that ended with a dropped Husky touchdown pass in the end zone in a 20-14 loss in Boulder. The Huskies were a heartbreaking upset at the hands of UCLA late in the season from being set up to win the national championship and the Buffaloes replaced basically took their spot after the loss. The Buffaloes started out the season slowly with a tie against Tennessee and a loss to Illinois along with the infamous "Fifth Down" game but were on a roll at the end of the season.

Fake prediction - Washington 21-20 - Rematches always favor the team who lost the first game and the Huskies actually almost won the first one anyways. Their defense would be able to slow the Buffaloes and allow their offense to make the plays at the end of the game this time.

1992: Colorado (9-1-1, #10) at Washington (9-2, #9)

The Huskies looked poised for a potential second-straight national championships when the Billy Joe Hobert (non) scandal broke and their season started to unravel. The Buffaloes had a good season and the two teams that seemed to dominate the late 80's and early 90's set up another great championship game with a matchup of two Top 10 teams.

Fake prediction - Washington 24-21 - Both teams ended up losing their bowl games, but the Huskies looked better throughout the season and in their loss in the Rose Bowl to Michigan than Colorado in their loss in the Fiesta Bowl to Syracuse.

1993: Cal* (7-4) at Colorado (7-3-1) *Cal would fill in for an ineligible Washington team

The conference game would finally be a non-event again after four years of great matchups with two unranked teams including a fill in Cal team and a Colorado program that was on a down year. It would be a landmark game though as it would be the first time a team that wasn't from the state of Washington represented the North Division and only the second time the representative wasn't the Huskies.

Fake prediction - Colorado 42-21 - The Buffaloes weren't that good, but the Bears shouldn't have even been there in the first place.

1994: Oregon (9-3, #12) at Colorado (10-1, #4)

The first Oregon team to break through would be rewarded with a very good Colorado team that had been in the championship game five out of the last six years and was still in the national title picture. The game would have some upset intrigue and an interesting change of pace with the Ducks.

Fake prediction - Colorado 42-34 - The Ducks offense would be able to score, but their defense not good enough to stop the Buffaloes in the last year of their elite run in the 90's.

1999: Colorado (6-5) at Stanford (8-3, #22)

One of the weakest years in Pac-10 history where it seemed like no one wanted to win the conference. A Tyrone Willingham coached team ends up winning the North and hosting the championship game. Need I say more?

Fake prediction - Stanford 28-21 - A close, but slow game where two not that great teams go at it and the above average team wins.

2001: Colorado (10-2, #3) at Oregon (10-1, #2)

This actually ended up being the Fiesta Bowl and the Buffaloes came in as one of the hottest teams in the country having just upset two-straight Top 3 teams in Nebraska and Texas with a fierce rushing attack. The Ducks were led by Joey Harrington and had only one close loss to Stanford and were hoping to win their first Pac-12 Championship game as they hosted the game in Autzen for the first time ever.

Fake prediction - Oregon 41-14 - The Ducks ended up blowing out Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl, so they would blow them out even a little more in Autzen.

By Jon Woods