Colorado moved up to No. 16 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday for its highest ranking in eight years. The Buffaloes also have the inside track to a spot in the Big 12 championship game, and at 8-2 they've doubled last year's victory total.
Coach Deion Sanders put the kibosh on the notion his players or staff would take time to reflect on what they've accomplished so far.
“No, not whatsoever, because we expected to be here," Sanders said after a 49-24 victory over Utah on Saturday. “A lot of y’all didn’t expect us to be here, but we expected it to be where we are. Matter of fact, we expected to be a little better. We dropped a couple that we’re not proud of, but that’s in the past.”
The Buffs have won four straight heading into their game Saturday against surging Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium The four-win Jayhawks, coming off a 17-13 victory at BYU, have beaten Top 25 opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time.
Colorado's turnaround in Sanders' second season in Boulder has been remarkable considering the Buffs lost eight of their last nine games in 2023 and were picked 11th in the 16-team Big 12 in the preseason.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter could be the first two players taken, in either order, in the 2025 NFL draft. Sanders has thrown for 322 yards per game and 27 touchdowns, and Hunter is a leading contender for the Heisman Trophy. The Buffaloes rank in the middle of the Big 12 in total and scoring defense and lead the conference with 33 sacks.
Colorado enters the week as a 2 1/2-point favorite against Kansas, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Buffs finish the regular season at home against Oklahoma State.
If they win those two, they would have their first 10-win regular season since 2016 under Mike MacIntyre. The Big 12 title and College Football Playoff are very real possibilities.
“So now we focus on one game at a time. We really, truly do,” Sanders said. “But our expectations aren’t your expectations. Our expectations are our expectations, and we expect a lot out of ourselves.”
Checking in on five of the Top 25:
No. 5 Indiana at Ohio State is the game college football fans have been waiting for since the Hoosiers stormed onto the scene with their run of double-digit victories under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. Ohio State is the first ranked opponent the Hoosiers will face. The Buckeyes won comfortably over Northwestern at Wrigley Field on Saturday, but it was the fourth game this season that Ohio State's opponent scored first.
The Irish, save for a 31-24 win over Louisville, haven't been pushed while winning eight straight since they were upset by Northern Illinois. Riley Leonard's 13 rushing touchdowns are tied for fourth most among quarterbacks, the Irish's offense is top-15 in rushing and scoring and its defense is top-five in total, passing and points allowed. That defense will get a good test from No. 18 Army's ground game at Yankee Stadium this week.
The Mustangs would clinch a spot in the ACC championship game with a win over Virginia this week. The SMU faithful aren't happy about being behind Miami in the College Football Playoff rankings, but that won't matter in three weeks if the Mustangs win the conference. The Mustangs' 9-1 start is their best since 2019, they've won a school-record 15 straight conference games and are 6-0 in conference play in back-to-back seasons for the first time.
The Gamecocks have won four straight after a 3-3 start and have their highest ranking since they were No. 13 on Sept. 21, 2014. Their 34-30 win over Missouri was their third straight over a Top 25 opponent, a first in program history. LaNorris Sellers, who threw for five touchdowns against the Tigers, has been one of the top SEC quarterbacks over the last month, with 10 TD passes against one interception.
Arizona State, picked last in the 16-team Big 12 in the preseason poll, is in the thick of the conference race with two regular-season games left. If the Sun Devils beat BYU at home this week, a spot in the Big 12 title game could be at stake in the Territorial Cup game against Arizona at home. As it is, they're 8-2 for the first time since 2013 and in the Top 25 for the first time since Oct. 10, 2021.
The competition for the Group of Five spot in the College Football Playoff is heating up. A season-high four teams from the non-power conferences are in the Top 25. Boise State remains first in line, at No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings. No. 18 Army (No. 24 CFP) and No. 20 Tulane (No. 25) continue to lurk. Now UNLV has won four of five and is back in the AP poll at No. 23 with the hope of cracking the CFP rankings Tuesday. ... No. 7 Alabama and No. 16 Colorado have risen in the poll each of the last four weeks. ... Indiana-Ohio State will be the fifth regular-season game between top-five teams, most since at least 2000, according to Sportradar.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll