Landry: ‘Some chaos’ needed for Buffaloes to crack CFP final four
Dec 1, 2016, 6:09 AM | Updated: 6:48 am
On Friday, the Colorado Buffaloes will try to put the cherry on top of a regular season few thought was possible before the start of the 2016 season: a Pac-12 Championship.
Even just participating in the title game quite the achievement for a team that before the season was picked to finish last in the conference, won just 10 total games in head coach Mike MacIntyre’s tenure in Boulder, and won just five conference games total since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
A win Friday evening in Santa Clara, Calif., against No. 4 Washington would earn the Buffs its first conference title since 2001 — then in the Big 12 — and at least a trip to the Rose Bowl.
But could CU, who sits at No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings, wind up among the final four teams vying for a national championship?
“It’s going to be a big-time challenge for them against a Washington team that, if they play their best game, is probably a little better than CU,” Chris Landry of LandryFootball.com told 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough on Wednesday.
“But boy, if CU can have a complete turnaround on special teams, clean that up, then I think they’ve got a shot. And then let’s see where the chips fall.”
Landy said he believes if there’s any scenario in which the Buffs make it to the final four, it’ll have to be alongside No. 5 Michigan, who beat CU earlier this season in Ann Arbor.
No. 1 Alabama is unlikely to move out of the top four and No. 2 Ohio State, along with Michigan, will not participate in the Big 10 Championship on Saturday — instead, it will be No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Penn State.
But should No. 3 Clemson fall in the ACC title game to No. 23 Virginia Tech, Landy said it’s “very difficult, very difficult, to put in a Big 10 champ along with Michigan and Ohio State,” thus leaving a crack open for CU to jump up into the final four.
“Albeit maybe a small one, that’s the outside shot that they can get in. It’ll take some chaos for it to happen, but we’ve seen it happen before,” Landry said.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
