The Colorado Buffaloes have delivered on every promise, and then some

It was the biggest game in Boulder in over a decade. The Washington State Cougars, Mike Leach and all their “fat little girlfriends” (YouTube it if you’ve never heard it) looked to play spoiler against the No. 10-ranked Colorado Buffaloes.

A win and CU still controls their own destiny; a loss, and the shine is gone.

Coming into the game, the conversation has been whether or not the Buffs could sneak their way into the College Football Playoff. but as the game went on, I had a strange feeling: I felt grateful, grateful to be watching a team that I have cheered for since moving to Colorado in the early 90s playing for something so big.

Sure, it was just a regular Pac-12 game, but we all knew it meant more than that. With a bowl game already in sight, everything else is icing on the cake for the Buffaloes.

I get it. It would be the biggest jump a Colorado sports team has made since the Nuggets’ drafted Carmelo Anthony, but wouldn’t a Rose Bowl birth be better for this team?

Hear me out: I understand being a part of the final four, with chance to compete for a national championship, is huge, but let’s be honest with each other: a matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide is not a favorable matchup for any team in college football. Ask yourself this, Buffs Nation: Would a Rose Bowl game, and a real, legit chance to win the Rose Bowl feel better than a blowout loss at the hands of Nick Saban and crew? The answer is yes!

The Rise is so real that it has become undeniable, but I think a big loss to a team like Bama would actually do more damage than it would do good. It would certainly be a great accomplishment, but it would leave a sour taste in the mouth of Buffs Nation after a season of such highs.

It has been tough at times to trust the process, but Mike MacIntrye has shown us that the payoff is here. The process that MacIntrye has talked about is exactly what we are seeing.

The Buffaloes are back, and with the news this week of a stolen recruit from “The” Ohio State (excuse while I go puke after writing “The”), we are only seeing the beginning of what this team can and will be in the very near future.