CU Buffs projected to be in college football’s most fun bowl

For some just making a bowl game will be enough for the Colorado Buffaloes, for others they seek the College Football Playoff and then there are the few who are hoping Deion Sanders is coaching in a very silly postseason game.

Last year the Pop Tarts Bowl delivered upon the promise of the winning team eating the game’s live mascot. The anthropomorphic Strawberry was eaten by Kansas State last year in what was a highly successful latest rebrand of the Sunshine Classic. The bowl game takes place in Orlando and after the Buffs win in that city over the weekend, 24/7 Sports is projecting CU to meet Notre Dame with a giant Pop Tart on the line. Truly nothing says college football like legacy programs playing in a highly advertised game with a breakfast pastry up for grabs.

Colorado is projected for a bowl game by many sites now since they sit at 4-1 and need just two wins to become postseason-eligible for the second time in a full season since 2007. As Coach Prime has said a main goal of his is to get 99-year-old CU superfan Peggy Coppom to a bowl game and after inheriting a one-win squad and getting them to the playoffs in two years it would be quite the success. Colorado has a few more winnable games ahead—particularly in hosting Cincinnati and traveling to Kansas.

Buffs bowl projections

24/7 Sports: Pop Tarts Bowl (Orlando) against Notre Dame
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) against NC State
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Phoenix) against Maryland
USA Today: Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas) against South Carolina
Action Network: Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl (El Paso) against Boston College

If you’re wondering why there’s no consensus there are a few good reasons for that. For starters, nobody seems to agree on the outlook of the Buffs, making projecting the rest of their season quite tough. The bowl tie-ins are also muddied this year because of conference realignment, meaning long-established relationships between conferences and bowls have been tossed away but some prior Pac-12 tie-ins for CU are still active. Another minor factor is bowl committee will be more willing to select Colorado over some other schools that may have better records because they draw massive crowds and TV ratings.