Colorado Buffaloes 27th in Preseason Coaches Poll

The Colorado Buffaloes are getting pre-season recognition as the Buffs come in at 27th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They’re technically unranked, but this is great for the Buffs.

A year after The Rise, the Buffaloes have more preseason hype than any Colorado team in a long, long time. The last time CU was higher in the pre-season Top 25 was in 2002 — the year after being snubbed for the National Championship after beating Nebraska, 62-36 — when they were ranked 6th in the Coaches Poll.

The Buffs are ranked 27th, but they should probably be higher. The Coaches Poll, for whatever reason, has Texas ranked #23, even though they went 5-7, literally lost to Kansas, then and fired their head coach last season. I mostly mention this because (1) it’s funny for some reason, and (2) Ralphie Report editor Jon Woods is an Oklahoma fan and I’m going for those sweet, sweet brownie points.

Colorado isn’t the only Pac-12 team with a high ranking as four teams find themselves in the Top 25. USC is at #4, Washington at #7, Stanford at #14, and Utah at #25, plus Washington State coming in at #26. The Pac-12 looks to have a strong year and that could help build Colorado’s reputation.

Also of note, Oregon is at #34 and Nebraska is at #36. And hey look at that, Colorado State got a vote. That’s awesome for them! They got a nice symbol of support from a Mountain West coach who tried to sneak a vote for a conference foe. Now CSU fans also get to brag about being included in the pre-season poll!

But seriously, folks...

If the Buffs take care of Colorado State in the season opener, they should jump into the actual Top 25. They would just need at least one other team in the Top 25 to bite the dust early, which is likelier than not.

The Buffs being ranked 27th in an official preseason poll is great news, but I still hope the team gets pissed that they were unranked and play with a chip on their shoulder all year, even though no one really doubted them in the first place.