Deion Sanders and the CU Buffs clinch bowl eligibility

BOULDER—The Colorado Buffaloes are headed to a bowl game for the second time in the last 16 full seasons of action, mauling the Cincinnati Bearcats 34-23 on Saturday to clinch a postseason berth.

This will be Colorado’s third bowl game since the start of the 2008 season as the team played in the Alamo Bowl both in the 2016 season and the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Buffaloes won just five games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons combined, leading to the coaching change that put Deion Sanders in charge. Coach Prime’s first year was an improving 4-8, but the leap has come in his second year at the helm with the Buffs now at 6-2.

And Colorado didn’t even struggle to get a sixth win, a mark that has been somewhat cursed for the program in recent memory. The Buffs won their fifth last week on the road and then easily handled Cincinnati—taking a two-possession lead just before halftime and never looking back. Aside from 2020, the Buffaloes had lost 11 straight games when seeking a sixth win to become bowl-eligible. Colorado has five times finished with five wins during their bowl drought, including three straight five-win seasons following the special 2016 rise campaign.

In getting to six wins the Buffs top their preseason win total prop of 5.5 put out by most bookmakers. They also push themselves into some of college football’s more serious conversations. Colorado is on bye next week then heads to Texas Tech, there’s a real chance the Buffaloes are ranked by the time they kick in Lubbock. Between now and then, the first College Football Playoff poll released on Nov. 5. In addition, Colorado is now more or less playing for a spot in the Big 12 Championship, needing to win out and get a bit of help from around the conference. CU saw some of that help on Saturday with the Red Raiders upset in a wild comeback by TCU. If the Buffs find their way to Dallas, they would be playing for an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff.

This will be Colorado’s 31st trip to the postseason in 123 years of playing ball. They’re 12-18 in bowl games with the last win coming in the Houston Bowl back in 2004. The most notable trip was back in 1990 when Colorado won a national championship by finishing an 11-1-1 season with the country’s top ranking.

Media outlet projections coming into this week ranged from Colorado going to the Independence Bowl to the Las Vegas Bowl. Where the Buffaloes could roam in late December will probably bounce around a lot in the next several weeks.

Coach Prime’s goal coming into the year was to get 99-year-old CU superfan Peggy Coppom to a bowl game, Sanders has accomplished just that. He did say Peggy has taste, so we’ll see in the coming weeks if CU can treat their biggest fan to a classy postseason contest.