BuffZone's Brian Howell succinctly eulogized Colorado football's hopes and dreams after a 37-21 loss to Kansas in Week 13; successfully assessing the problem as an identity crisis on the biggest stage.
"Just a week ago, the Colorado Buffaloes looked like a team building an identity for a tough, physical play on defense. On Saturday, the Buffs looked like a team that had lost its identity. From start to finish, CU was dominated physically by upstart Kansas in a 37-21 loss at Arrowhead Stadium," Howell wrote.
Unfortunately, this is a symptom of Deion Sanders' coaching career so far. He has gotten teams to the big one, specifically Jackson State in two consecutive Celebration Bowls, but he has never come away with a win in such games. Every game for the past two months has been the biggest of Coach Prime's career at Colorado, but losing to Kansas takes a lot of steam out of CU's season finale against Oklahoma State.
Technically, there's a very roundabout way for the Buffs to make the Big 12 Championship Game. It'd take there being only two teams with 7-2 conference records. Colorado has a 6% chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Thinking about such a game isn't worth the trouble. Colorado will most likely go to a bowl game named completely after its sponsor, and that's okay. Being in a bowl game at all was the goal during the Black and Gold spring game.
No one believed CU would accomplish that. This season is undeniably a successful one within that context.
That they were so close and lost it is legitimately sad, though. The Buffs worked hard to establish their identity, but with the lights at their brightest, stars like Shilo Sanders and Jordan Seaton didn't live up to their billing in Lawrence, Kansas on November 23.
Colorado didn't look like Big 12 title material. And now they more than likely can't be.