The Colorado Buffaloes have finally appeared in the AP Top 25, coming in at #24 in the latest media poll.
The Buffaloes have won three straight, including home wins over the Pac-12 leader(s) USC and UCLA this past week. They are tied for most overall wins (19) and most conference wins (13) in conference.
Colorado is the only Pac-12 team in the AP Top 25, but part of that is because the Buffs knocked down the previously ranked Trojans (who also lost to Utah on Saturday) and the Bruins (who were previously ahead of CU in votes received).
Albeit meaningless, this is a long time coming for the Buffs. They have been on the cusp of the Top 25 all season, hovering for months between #26 and #32 on votes received. Every time they were about to be ranked, they lost a puzzling game; every time they were on the verge of falling off, they went on a win streak.
It’s also nice to see media aligning with the advanced numbers. Colorado is 16th on kenpom.com, 15th on barttorvik.com and 13th in the NCAA’s NET ranking.