Colorado Football: 2017 Buffaloes season preview, predictions

In 2016, the Buffaloes surprised the division to win the Pac-12 South. Can Mike McIntyre’s current Colorado football team repeat the feat this year?

Since leaving the Big 12 and joining the expanded Pac-12 in 2011, Colorado struggled to find its place in its new league. The Buffaloes traded one overmatched situation for another with the shift. Between 2006 and 2015, Colorado went to just one bowl game over the course of the decade. After Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree tanked the situation in Boulder, it fell to Mike MacIntyre to try to fix things.

Over his first three years at Colorado, MacIntyre went 10-27 with the Buffaloes. He had done a masterful job causing consistent improvement in his three years at San Jose State. But it was beginning to look as though Colorado was devolving into an irredeemable outpost. Then 2016 occurred, and the script was flipped completely on its head.

The Buffaloes emerged last year as Pac-12 South contenders. McIntyre’s squad, led by a stingy secondary and senior quarterback Sefo Liufau, won the division crown after surprising Utah and USC to reach the top of the standings. While they lost to Washington in Santa Clara, the Buffaloes still managed to finish the year as a 10-win team.

Now the trick is trying to maintain position atop the division and build upon last year’s successes. That will be much tougher given the departures from last year’s squad, including defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt. Can the Buffaloes remain in contention for the Pac-12 title this year? Click ahead to read our preview of Colorado’s offense and defense and predictions on how the season will finish out for the Buffaloes.