Colorado Buffaloes will not play this weekend

As first reported by Brian Howell, the Colorado Buffaloes have chosen to remain idle this weekend, choosing to finish the regular season after five games.

This decision follows what has happened with the Pac-12 Championship. The title game was set to be between USC and Washington, while division runners-up Colorado and Oregon played each other. However, Washington canceled their participation on account of virus issues, so Oregon moved into the title game. That left Colorado without a game to play, unless USC did not pass COVID protocol.

Colorado could have scheduled another game, but it would have been difficult. For one, the Pac-12 wanted them to remain in Los Angeles to be a fail-safe in case USC couldn’t play, meaning the Buffs would have had to play their back-up game in L.A. For another, the Pac-12 wanted the Buffs to play a conference opponent whom they had not yet played this season, but such a game was unavailable.

From the perspective of Colorado, the best thing to do was sit out the weekend, rest and get healthy, and wait for a bowl game invite. Even after their loss to Utah, Colorado remained in the CFP Top 25, meaning they are virtually guaranteed to be invited to the Alamo Bowl (if USC beats Oregon) or the Armed Forces Bowl (if Oregon wins).

The Buffs will now have two or three more weeks to rest before their bowl game. That could be huge for a team as injured as the Buffs. Of note, Sam Noyer, Colby Pursell, Kary Kutsch and Will Sherman are all struggling with injuries and should benefit.