About a month ago, the Colorado Buffaloes were ranked outside the top 100 in USA TODAY Sports’ post-spring FBS power rankings. Coming off a 3-9 season, the Buffs should be given no benefit of the doubt before games kick off, but a ranking as one of the worst 30 teams in the country is a stretch.
CBS Sports released their 1-138 power rankings earlier this week, and the Buffaloes are in a much better spot. CU comes in ranked No. 73 in the country, a much more respectable ranking and quite possibly a good guess at where the Buffs might finish come December.
Ranking breakdown
Still, despite the overall improvement in ranking, Colorado is the lowest-ranked Big 12 program, behind the likes of West Virginia, UCF and Oklahoma State. That being said, Colorado has a ton of unknowns, making it a tough program to evaluate before games have been played.
However, there should be plenty of optimism, with new and unknowns, as there is more talent on both the roster and the coaching staff than in years past. As it does for most teams that routinely build their roster from the transfer portal, Colorado needs to put everything together.
Bottom Line
Colorado has everything to prove entering 2026. The Buffs have not done anything without Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter on the roster in Deion Sanders’ three seasons. Entering year four, the tide seems to be changing, even if national rankings don’t believe it yet.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado football power rankings per CBS Sports