Against his best will, Deion Sanders Colorado Buffaloes enter Week 10 as the No. 23 team in the field. The Buffs are on a bye week, but they got 152 points from the Associated Press in their last AP Top 25 Poll. To be frank, any 6-2 team that is 4-1 in the Big 12 should probably be ranked in the AP Top 25 anyway, but that’s beside the point. The fact is that the Colorado is lying in the tall grass.

This was an incredibly loud program this past offseason, coming off a rough 4-8 season. CU went 3-0 in non-conference play with wins over TCU, Nebraska and Colorado State before going 1-8 in Pac-12 play with just one conference win over Arizona State. Sanders was incredibly abrasive during a press conference on his birthday and a few days after he became a grandfather.

Regardless, I saw the Buffaloes improve once again this season, but I only graded them as a 5-7 team. They will play at least 13 games this year after reaching bowl eligibility. More importantly, CU is one of four teams that have a good to good chance of winning the Big 12. Right now, they come in fourth behind BYU, Iowa State and Kansas State, in that order. Plus, they already lost to Kansas State.

Truth be told, Sanders wouldn’t have it any other way, as he has his team ready to play spoiler for the Big 12.

Colorado’s chances to do the College Football Playoffs are thin, but no one wants to play them.

Looking at Colorado’s four remaining Big 12 games after this weekend’s bye, I think there’s a chance they can win. Texas Tech could be a challenge, as could the Rumble in the Rockies with rival Utah. Keep in mind that the meeting with the Utes will take place in Boulder. After that it will be a road date against a flightless Kansas team, followed by a home date against an increasingly lifeless Oklahoma State team.

For Colorado to semi-realistically reach Arlington, the Buffs need to win and finish the regular season at 10-2 (8-1). That would require Kansas State to drop a second game, preferably to Iowa State in Farmageddon. After that, CU would need BYU or the Clones to drop a game, maybe two. Since Colorado isn’t playing BYU or Iowa State this year, I don’t know the tiebreaker rule for a loss.

Ultimately, I applaud Sanders and Colorado for staying the course after a few bumps along the way. Losing to traditional rival Nebraska could be what keeps the Buffs out of the playoffs. The Huskers’ loss looks worse and worse by the week. Falling to longtime rival Kansas State didn’t help, but can be overcome in Big 12 play. Problem is, BYU and Iowa State still haven’t lost.

In the meantime, we can all continue to doubt the future of Sanders and Colorado at our peril.