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Colorado is the biggest winner of Week 10 without even playing a game: Buffaloes CFB Playoff hopes alive

By Frank Sciarroni

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders #2 talk with Head Coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes prior to the game against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. The Buffaloes defeated the Knights 48-21.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders #2 talk with Head Coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes prior to the game against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. The Buffaloes defeated the Knights 48-21. / Don Juan Moore/GettyImages
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In a crazy Saturday of college football that saw teams ranked No. 3, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24 all lose, the biggest winner of the weekend was a team who did not even play. 

The Colorado Buffaloes seemed to be having a great time during their bye week: fishing, eating, making appearances on College Gameday and Big Noon Kickoff.

But nothing had to make them feel better than how things played out on Saturday. Sitting at 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, a path to the playoff has been made clear for coach Deion Sanders' team.

Most importantly for Colorado, two of those ranked teams that lost in Week 10 were fellow Big 12 members who both ranked above the Buffs in the conference standings prior to Saturday. 

Previously undefeated Iowa State fell first in a 23-22 loss at home to Texas Tech. This loss dropped the Cyclones to 4-1 in the Big 12 and tied for second place with Colorado.

Then shortly after, Kansas State fell on the road after giving up 14 fourth quarter points to Houston. Despite the Wildcats beating Colorado three weeks ago, this loss dropped their conference record to 4-2 and below the Buffs in the Big 12. 

While all this was great, the obvious first step for Coach Prime if he wants to get his team to the playoff is to win out. 

Colorado’s remaining schedule includes games against Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. Outside of Texas Tech, these are three teams who have really struggled this year so winning out is very much on the table. 

If they are able to take care of their own business first, the Buffaloes would still need a little help, but not much after what happened in Week 10. Assuming BYU wins out they would be in the conference championship game, and the other spot would come down to Iowa State and Colorado. 

If both of them were to win out, it would be decided by Big 12 tiebreaker procedures which goes as follows:

  • Head-to-head result
  • Record against common conference opponents
  • Record against next highest placed conference opponent in standings
  • Combined conference winning percentage of Big 12 opponents
  • Overall wins
  • Highest ranking by SportsSource Analytics team “Rating Score”
  • Coin Toss

While a coin toss would be awesome, after how the Cyclones looked yesterday, another loss on their record could be very likely. This would break the second place tie and send Colorado to the Big 12 Championship game with a College Football Playoff bid on the line.

The effect of what happened yesterday can be seen in sportsbook odds that massively changed in favor of Colorado’s chances at a Big 12 title. Prior to Week 10 Colorado sat around +700 in most books, but are now listed at +300, just slightly behind Iowa State (+270) and BYU (+220) on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Just when we thought things could not get any crazier in the Big 12, we got Week 10. I would have loved to see the smile on Deion Sanders face when he witnessed what occurred to give his team a massive win without even playing a game.

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