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Colorado Football: Buffs at the PAC-12 Media Days

Coach Mac, Stéphane Nembot, and Kenneth Olugbode made their way to L.A. to talk about CU.

By Jon Woods
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Another perk of moving from the Big 12 to the PAC-12 in a long and growing list of perks is location, location, location. Of course, this makes the road trips that much more fun for fans, but it also makes the Media Days a blast, and this year it's being held in Los Angeles. Coach Mac brought two players with him, Stephane Nembot, "The First Man Off the Bus", and Kenneth Olugbode, the leading tackler from last year and a leader on the defense. So far the CU contingent seems more calm and confident than we've seen in years. Obviously, this sort of event lends itself to a lot of interviews and media content, so we'll do out best to track everything down and put it right here.

Experience, Improved Defense, Gives Buffs Optimism - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado
Truth is, not many people expect the Buffaloes to win much this year, just one year removed from a 2-10 (0-9 Pac-12) finish. Playing in arguably the toughest division in college football — five teams in the Pac-12 South are ranked in someone’s preseason top 25 — the Buffs aren’t projected to be a major factor. Most prognosticators say they’ll be better, but measuring that improvement in such a brutal division won’t be easy because of the schedule they face, one that could include seven nationally ranked teams.

CU football: Mike MacIntyre says defense holds key to Buffs' season - Buffzone
Improving on the defensive side is a priority for MacIntyre and the Buffs because it represents the biggest opportunity to make a jump in performance and ultimately in the standings. The Buffs went winless in the Pac-12 last season, in part, because the defense gave up more than 200 rushing yards per game and 39 points per game.

Colorado picked to finish last in Pac-12 preseason media football poll - The Denver Post
Colorado received 46 points, the fewest among all Pac-12 teams in the poll, which was released Thursday. USC is favored to win the South, while Oregon was chosen to win the North Division.

2015 Pac-12 Football Media Days: Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre | Pac-12
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre chats with Pac-12 Networks' Mike Yam, Curtis Conway, and Yogi Roth on Thursday in Burbank, California at the 2015 Pac...

2015 Pac-12 Football Media Days: Colorado's Stephane Nembot and Kenneth Olugbode | Pac-12
Pac-12 Networks' Mike Yam, Curtis Conway, and Yogi Roth chat with Colorado's Stephane Nembot and Kenneth Olugbode on Thursday at the 2015 Pac-12...

Three Colorado Buffaloes to keep an eye on for the 2016 NFL Draft - CBSSports.com
Complicating matters is the fact that Colorado lost arguably its best NFL prospect in June when CU associate athletic director David Plati confirmed that 6-foot-2, 325-pound senior defensive tackle Josh Tupou would not play in 2015. Tupou was arrested in March on suspicion of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, criminal mischief, trespassing and reckless endangerment and though the Boulder district attorney ultimately dismissed the charges, Tupou is no longer on Colorado's roster. As such, Colorado could see another NFL Draft go by without a single player being drafted, though there are some candidates for scouts to keep an eye on.

MacIntyre on recruiting, Colorado's mystique - ESPN Video
Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre discusses the Buffaloes history, recruiting advantages and building upon last season's success.

Coach Mac also showed he can pass as a cowboy. The best part of the picture is the suave smile by Prince Nembot:

The big right tackle then proceeded to hit this putt. Multi-sport athlete?

He then shows that baseball bats are overrated:

There's going to be more updates coming out of L.A. the rest of today and tomorrow. It's a fun time for everyone involved and sheds some light on the conference. A particularly telling quote from MacIntyre tells a story of a few upperclassmen who informed him of a fight in the locker room. Supposedly, the fight started after players were predicting an 8-4 season (one game doesn't count, I guess). And the other party took offense to that, saying, "Who can beat us?" That attitude has been sorely missed in Boulder. It's gonna be a fun year.

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