Buffs Move Up To No. 12 In CFP Rankings
November 08, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
Colorado jumps from No. 15
BOULDER — One week after debuting at No. 15 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, the Colorado Buffaloes moved up three spots to No. 12 in the latest rankings released Tuesday by the CFP.
The 7-2 Buffs, coming off a 20-10 win over UCLA, moved ahead of LSU, Florida and Nebraska. LSU lost to Alabama and dropped from No. 13 to 24, Nebraska was pummeled by Ohio State and dropped from No. 10 to 19, and Florida fell out of the rankings after losing to Arkansas.
The Buffs, who currently lead the Pac-12 South with a 5-1 conference record, play Saturday at Arizona in an 8 p.m. nationally televised game (FS1).
Colorado is one of five Pac-12 teams in the latest rankings, including unbeaten Washington, which moved up to No. 4. Other Pac-12 teams in the rankings are Utah at No. 15, USC at No. 20 and Washington State at No. 23.
CU head coach Mike MacIntyre, who didn't watch the rankings announcement last week, said at his Tuesday press conference he probably wouldn't watch the latest announcement, either.
"(Sports Information Director) Dave Plati will call me tonight and tell me what we're ranked," MacIntyre said. "I'll be here watching Arizona (film) and watching our practice film and talking to some of our kids and coaches and recruiting and worrying about academics. … I won't worry about all that until the end."
But, MacIntyre did allow that the positive publicity of being ranked no doubt helps the program. Colorado has also re-entered the national polls for the first time this year since 2005, with the Buffs currently ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/Coaches balloting.
"The more we're on television and the more we're ranked, I do notice it helps recruiting," MacIntyre said. "That's a good thing when you call a kid tonight and you've gotten ranked. We understand we take care of everything on the field."
The CFP committee has stressed that the initial rankings are just a starting point. The committee will release three more sets of rankings in November on each of the remaining Tuesday in the month.
The final rankings will be announced Sunday, Dec. 4, two days after the Pac-12 championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
That's when the nation will know what four teams will advance to the CFP semifinals, as well as bowl game pairings. The final CFP rankings play a major role in deciding bowl pairings, in particular the New Year's Day Six games.
This season's semifinals will be hosted Dec. 31 by the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. The national championship game will be played Jan. 9 in Tampa, Fla.
The Buffs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2007, with the list of possibilities still long. The Pac-12's bowl affiliations are the Rose, Alamo, Holiday, Foster Farms, Sun, Las Vegas and Cactus bowls. Colorado could also possibly end up in the Cotton Bowl.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu