Undefeated Buffaloes ranked 21st in AP Top 25

The Colorado Buffaloes, undefeated after four games, have finally cracked the rankings. They come in at a cool #21 in the latest AP Poll and #22 in the Coaches Poll, respectively. Surely they will be in the College Football Playoff rankings when that is released on Tuesday.

Any team that’s undefeated in December deserves a number next to their name, especially if they’re in a major conference. It wasn’t always pretty for CU, but they have knuckled down and earned each of their four victories.

It’s safe to say Colorado would have made the rankings regardless of what transpired over the weekend. It certainly helps that Oklahoma State, Marshall, Washington and Washington were all upset and knocked out of the rankings, while Texas and Wisconsin dropped past CU with their own uninspiring results.

The Buffs have not been ranking since 2018, when they started the season 5-0 and made it to #19 in the AP Top 25. Those five wins were followed by seven straight losses, but even if the worse came to be, the Buffs are already bowl eligible and have just two more games left in Pac-12 play.

If Colorado defeats Utah (1-2) on Friday, they will put themselves in position to win the Pac-12 South. The Buffs will play one fewer conference game than USC, so they need the Trojans to lose either today against Washington State or next week against UCLA.

Whoever wins the South will face a disjoined North representative. Oregon is 3-2 after suffering upsets to Oregon State and California in successive weeks, Washington is 3-1 and just lost to Stanford, and Washington State is still alive with a strange 1-1 record.

Also of note, each of Colorado’s wins are looking more impressive by the week. UCLA just defeated Arizona State and Stanford just beat Washington, both games on the road, while San Diego State handled Colorado State.