Go Falcons, Buffaloes, Rams and Bears.
Beat whomever, wherever, whenever.
Whatever.
College football in Colorado is in a bewildering state.
For the first time in late October all four major college teams are undefeated. Sort of in somewhat of a stretch. Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Air Force are a combined 1-0. Go figure.
I can’t even remember when the Falcons opened the season (early October or late August?) with a 40-7 victory over the Midshipmen — “Air Force Sinks Navy’’ — but at least they have played a game, which is more than the other schools can claim.
The Rams were supposed to play their first game against New Mexico at Canvas Stadium this Saturday night, but the Lobos had to call it off because of proliferation of COVID-19 cases in the county where the campus is located in Albuquerque. The Mountain West Conference called it “no contest,’’ which would indicate it won’t be played later. CSU now is scheduled to play Oct. 29 at Fresno State. But check back.
CU just held its first scrimmage. The Buffs are scheduled to begin the season Nov. 7 (time undetermined) against UCLA.
Air Force is alleged to play Game Two on Saturday night at San Jose State.
And Northern Colorado held its first practice a couple of weeks ago, but won’t play until the spring.
I don’t quite get anything, but here’s what I think:
The Zoomies, according to Zoom conference calls and the academy’s official website, are planning to play eight games, with the last Dec. 3 at Utah State. Before then, though, they have several important games and dates: Oct. 31 against Boise State, which we must believe has another outstanding team (but how do we know?), Nov. 14 at Wyoming, Nov. 20 against New Mexico (if the Lobos can play by then), Thanksgiving Day vs. Colorado State at Falcon Stadium, with the winner-take-all of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy contest vs. Army on Nov. 7.
And if Air Force becomes eligible for a bowl game, no telling.
I do remember that the Falcons finished 11-2 last season, or was it last decade, and played in the Cheez-It Bowl. I even remember when the 1958 Air Force team, in only its second year of football, went 9-0-2 and played in the Cotton Bowl, and the great 1985 and 1998 Falcons, who were both 12-1.
Could they go 8-0?
The Pac-12 was extremely late to the 2020 party and will start in November, with the Buffs definitely scheduled against the conference’s other South Division teams (UCLA, USC, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State) and one team from the North (Stanford).
Yet, if the Buffs win the South, they would play in the Pac-12 championship Dec. 18, but, if they don’t end up first, deal with this: The remaining teams will play cross-conference games Dec. 19. So the Buffs could play an Oregon or a Washington university. Give up? Me, too. And CU, with a bowl invite if they qualify, could participate in something called the L.A. Bowl, which I’ve never heard of. Their opponent would be from the Mountain West Conference.
Guess what? Maybe CSU and CU, whose annual game was canceled, could wind up playing at the end of the season.
What about CSU, which won’t be able to play this weekend? After Fresno State, if all goes well, the Rams will be matched vs. Wyoming, Boise State, UNLV, Air Force, San Diego State and Utah State. That would be a seven-game schedule unless Colorado State reaches the MWC title game, which will be played in the stadium of the team with the best record.
Then, there’s the UNC Bears, a member of the Big Sky Conference. The league has announced that it will announce a spring schedule, featuring six games for each team participating (Sacramento State said no thank you), sometime in November.
So Ed McCaffrey, in his first season as a college coach, has something to look forward to, as does new CSU coach Steve Addazio and new CU coach Karl Dorrell. Meanwhile, Troy Calhoun just keeps on keeping on at Air Force.
College football is coming back to Colorado in the weirdest of ways and whys.
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