Evans: The Rise is real with the Colorado Buffaloes

I’ll admit to doing a double-take when I saw the University of Colorado Buffaloes at No. 15 in the first College Football Playoff rankings.

It is remarkable what Mike MacIntyre has done in resurrecting that moribund program.

I’ll be honest. I felt CU was in way over its head in the Pac-12 Conference. The Mountain West Conference seemed more its speed as a home for its football team.

While I bought the idea of improvement for CU, I felt it would happen at a glacier pace. I was on board with a possible six-win season and a baseline=creating goal of playing in a bowl game.

But these Buffs have blown past those modest goals to the point where it is legitimate to talk about winning the Pac-12 South, playing in the conference championship game, and even a major bowl game like the Rose Bowl — or “settling” for a trip to San Diego and a date with the hated Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl. (How cool would that be?)

How has this happened? It starts with Coach Mac. I know, I did that on purpose. I can already see it now:

“How dare you compare this Coach Mac to that Coach Mac!”

I like to needle CU fans by comparing them to Oakland Raider fans. Here’s the thing. Both fan bases are hopelessly in love with the past. Like, 25 years ago in the past. Let it go. Let this team build and play unencumbered by the so-called “glory days.”

This version of Coach Mac is doing a job that should make the original Coach Mac proud. CU’s rise is coming on the backs of a bunch of lowly regarded recruits who have grown and matured into top-notch college football players.

It is a testament to MacIntyre and his staff to how they have developed guys who were part of classes that ranked near the bottom of the Pac-12 and barely cracked the top 60 nationally.

Imagine what this staff can do if they can parlay this year’s success into a top-20, nationally ranked recruiting class?

There is the potential downside to all of this. What if a major program, with the kind of deep pockets to pay not only MacIntyre but also his assistants, come calling? Can he resist the urge? Is he looking like a CU “lifer?”

That’s for another day. In the meantime, enjoy what CU is doing.

Enjoy that they are expected to wallop UCLA, of all programs, at Folsom Field on Thursday. Enjoy that its resurgence is making me pay attention to the rest of the college football world. (Really? Texas A&M ahead of the undefeated Washington in the College Football Playoff top four?)

The Rise appears to be real.