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On Tuesday morning, On3’s Andy Staples published a story in which he made 10 predictions for the 2024 college football season.
It’s nearly impossible to predict what will happen over the course of a given season, but in 2024, it will be even more difficult. Thanks to conference realignment, there’s simply no way to predict how a league title race will play out.
How could you even begin to know how Texas or Oklahoma will fare in the SEC? What about how Oregon or USC will do in the Big Ten? For those of us that follow the Big 12, how could we possibly know how Utah or Colorado will stack up in their new league?
Well, that’s where one of Staples’ boldest predictions comes in, as he says that Colorado will make a bowl game in 2024.
“The discourse around Colorado feels very all-or-nothing,” Staples writes. “People who love Deion Sanders get mad when we don’t predict a Big 12 title. People who hate Coach Prime accuse us of trolling for clicks if we don’t suggest they’ll go 3-9.”
While there are pockets of fans who believe Colorado will either go 3-9 or 12-0, the most likely outcome is for the Buffs to land somewhere in the middle of those predictions.
“As with most things, the reality for Colorado lies somewhere in the middle,” Staples continues. “In this version of the Big 12, nearly every above-average team has a chance to play for the conference title if some of the breaks go that team’s way. But unless Colorado is significantly better on both lines of scrimmage, Kansas State, Utah, and Oklahoma State — the three betting favorites for the league title, which are all on Colorado’s schedule — will be tough for the Buffs to beat.”
So, in the end, what does Staples think is realistic for the Buffaloes in Year 1 of the Big 12? With improved play along the line of scrimmage and star players like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter being the best players on the field in any given game, somewhere in the realm of .500 or just better is an acceptable expectation.
“A two- or three-win improvement is entirely realistic, and going from 1-11 in 2022 to 6-6 or 7-5 in 2024 would be a perfectly acceptable level of improvement given the circumstances Sanders inherited.”
What do you think? Is Colorado going bowling in 2024? Sign up for free today and let us know in the Heartland College Sports forum!
Source link : https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2024/07/02/andy-staples-makes-bold-colorado-football-prediction/
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Publish date : 2024-07-02 12:02:47
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