Taking care of business is one thing. Taking ahold of destiny is another.
The Colorado Buffaloes football team, to its credit, has done the former all season long. They’ve won the games they should have, even a few that were up for grabs.
Make no mistake. That’s a major step for a team whose record over the past two seasons is filled with wouldas, couldas and shouldas – moral victories abound. UCLA and Southern Cal slipped away last season. In 2014, the Buffs opened with a loss to Colorado State, barely beat Massachusetts and then lost 59-56 in a shootout against Cal. Lost by three against UCLA, then four against Utah.
Back in September, I wrote that CU’s win against CSU in the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown was a signature win. Plenty of people scoffed. Yes, it was a convincing, 44-7 smackdown, but what did it really mean? Was Colorado State good enough to really make an assessment of the Buffs? Turns out they probably weren’t, but what caught my eye, and what’s been the norm ever since, is that Colorado wasn’t fooling around.
The Buffs won that game convincingly, which is exactly what they did against Arizona on Saturday night. Again – and continuing a trend that’s lasted all season – the Buffs, the better team (we can unequivocally say that now), took care of business.
Taking care of business is not an easy thing to do – ask Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Texas A&M and Auburn. Ask a Democrat.
But this concept of “The Rise” is not quite complete. Dramatic hype videos (and they are awesome) and climbing in the rankings (the Buffs are now No. 12 in the AP Poll) aside, there’s still plenty of work to do. Mike MacIntyre says the Buffs have gone from good to very good; this weekend they can go to great.
Against UCLA two weeks ago, Colorado played a sloppy, penalty-filled game. To their credit, they still won, but it almost looked like a team that had read a few too many of its own press clippings. That’s forgivable – after all, not many nice things have been written about Colorado football in years.
It’s also the trap that the Buffs must avoid this coming Saturday against No. 20 Washington State. By their rank, the Cougars are a team that Colorado should beat. But so much is on the line with this one. With a win, Washington State could set up a Pac-12 North “title game” against Washington; if Colorado wins, they’ll do the same for a showdown for the South against Utah.
From there, everyone knows the improbable scenario. If Colorado beats Utah, they’ll earn a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game. If they win there, and if this weekend is any kind of indicator, things could get crazy. Who knows how high this Rise might be?
The Buffs have taken care of business. They’ve done all the things they “should” do. Now it’s time to complete the rise, to do the things nobody – and I mean nobody – thought they could do. If they can do that, not only will the Buffs have risen, but odds are high they’ll stay on top – this can’t be a flash in the pan ascent.
The real Rise starts on Saturday.