Joel Klatt calls ASU “the pivotal game” for Deion Sanders and Colorado

Bowl Projections for Coach Prime and company ride heavily on this game

In many ways last week’s loss to USC felt more like a win. However, it wasn’t. It was still a loss.

That doesn’t at all diminish what the Buffs accomplished on Saturday. Despite being down several star players, they withstood USC’s best efforts and made the necessary adjustments. They simply ran out of time. If that game had been five minutes longer, the outcome may have been very different.

But from a bowl qualification standpoint, Colorado gets no credit for keeping it close against USC. It’s no different for Colorado State who lost to the Buffs in double overtime. In the end, all that matters are wins and losses.

Starting out 3-2 has positioned this team favorably for a postseason bowl bid. Although, there are now two “must win” games on the schedule, Arizona State and Stanford.

The downside of losing to Oregon and USC can be felt in several ways. One, whether we want to admit it or not, this is not a championship team. In fact, even if they run the table and go 10-2, that might not be enough to qualify for the Pac-12 Championship. 

It also greatly reduced the margin of error for this team. If Colorado doesn’t beat everybody it’s supposed to beat, then they would need a big upset to secure a bowl. This is why Joel Klatt, from Fox Sports, referred to today’s matchup as “the pivotal game.”

Let’s look at the remaining schedule and Colorado’s path to a bowl.

Must Wins

@ Arizona State

Stanford 10/13

Need to Win One

@ UCLA 10/28

Arizona 11/11

Storm the Field

Oregon State 11/4

Tough Spots

@ Washington State 11/17

@ Utah 11/25

The path to 6-6 (or better) starts today. There’s other potential wins out there but, they cannot let this one slip away. 

Our Prediction: Colorado 41 ASU 21