Woelk: Early Rankings Provide Buffs With Plenty Of Motivation

News: For some inexplicable reason, the national love the Colorado Buffaloes were getting at the end of last football season is starting to dissipate somewhat.

Views: The lack of respect doesn't bother the Buffs one bit. They've seen it before and their answer is always the same: see you on the field next fall.

Here is some background: In early January — just after the national championship game — the Buffs appeared in a number of "way too early" top 25 rankings for 2017. CBS Sports, Sporting News, ESPN and SECCountry.com all had the Buffs in their top 25 for next fall.

Not that anyone should have been surprised. The Buffs finished with a 10-4 record, an 8-1 Pac-12 mark and a No. 15 ranking in the final USA Today/Coaches poll and a No. 17 spot in the Associated Press rankings. With the vast majority of their offense coming back and a host of key defenders, there is no reason to think they won't be in the mix again when it comes to Pac-12 contenders.

But for whatever reason, the Buffs slipped from the radar just a bit in the post-spring rankings. CBS Sports, the Sporting News and ESPN all dropped the Buffs from their post-spring top 25. Neither are the Buffs included in the post-spring top 25 from Bleacher Report, Fox Sports or Athlon's.

The good news is the lack of respect is nothing these Buffs haven't faced before. Remember, it was just a year ago at this time that they were virtually the consensus pick to finish last in the Pac-12 South (they finished first). Nobody outside of the Champions Center had heard of #TheRise.

The Buffs then went out and knocked off the likes of Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State and Utah en route to the Pac-12 South title. The Rise was real.

Now, they'll be out to prove another point: #NeverStopRising.

Granted, if you look at the Buffs from a national prism, you can see the reasoning for the hesitancy to include Colorado in the top 25. But as a favor to our national brethren, we'll dispel some of those misconceptions here:

The Buffs lost their record-setting starting quarterback. True enough. Sefo Liufau, who owns roughly 100 CU passing records, is now on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster. But stepping into his shoes next fall will be the quarterback who led CU to a win at Oregon while becoming the first player in CU history to throw for at least 300 yards and rush for at least 100 in the same game. Steven Montez is already turning the heads of pro scouts who stop by CU's practices, and everyone in the CU locker room is confident of this much: there won't be a step back with Montez at the helm.

The Buffs lost eight starters off defense. Again, true. Four of those defenders — including three defensive backs — heard their names called in the NFL Draft, along with a defensive lineman. The Buffs must replace three starters up front, three defensive backs and a pair of linebackers.

But while CU lost eight starters, the Buffs will still have six starters returning. Derek McCartney isn't listed as a starter from a year ago because he went out with an injury in Week 3 — but the Buffs' sack leader and starter in 2015 will be back this fall. Leo Jackson III, a starter in 2015 and a contributor last year, is back for his senior season. Cornerback Isaiah Oliver isn't technically a returning starter — but he might be the highest-rated player on the team when it comes to NFL prospects, and he does have five starts under his belt. Nick Fisher isn't a returning starter — but he was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Washington State. Nose tackle Javier Edwards, a JC transfer, is a player nobody knows about — but it's a good bet they'll know his name very quickly. Now throw in players such as linebacker Rick Gamboa (if you're looking for someone who is going to make a name for himself, this is a good candidate), safety Afolabi Laguda (ditto) and do-everything DB Ryan Moeller, and you have the makings of a defense that is going to be much better than some folks are projecting.

The offense is an unknown. Let's see: every receiver who caught a ball last year for the Buffs is back, along with Juwann Winfree, who started camp with a bang last year before being sidelined with a knee injury. Running back Phillip Lindsay — 1,189 yards rushing, 47 receptions, 17 touchdowns — also returns, as do four of five CU's starting offensive linemen.

But what most observers might not remember is that this will be just the second year of CU's revamped, up-tempo offense featuring co-coordinators Brian Lindgren and Darrin Chiaverini. A year ago, the Buffs were creating and adjusting as they went through the season — and they played with a quarterback who missed the entire spring. This year, they have their plan firmly in place, Montez went through his second spring leading the offense, and everyone on the roster knows the plan inside and out. Year 2 should produce another significant step forward.

(Interesting side note here: Bleacher Report recently released its list predicting the top 25 college offenses in 2017. The Buffs were nowhere on the list. Washington State was No. 9; Colorado State was No. 8. The Buffs will see both teams this year.)

Now, back to those post-spring top 25 teams. The various rankings include a number of Pac-12 teams, with two — USC and Washington — consensus top 10 picks. Both teams are not only on CU's schedule this year, both will make Folsom Field appearances (get your tickets now). Others included in at least some of the rankings are Stanford, Washington State and Oregon.

Colorado, meanwhile, was recently ranked No. 5 in the Pac-12 by ESPN.

But in case you want to read too much into those rankings, remember this: a year ago, the Associated Press preseason poll put Stanford at No. 8, UCLA at No. 16 and Oregon at No. 24.

The Buffs were 3-0 against those teams.

That's why there's no concern in the Colorado locker room these days. Rather, there's just a little more motivation, a little more reason to put in extra work this summer.

The Buffs have been here before. They see the rankings and smile. They know there are folks out there who still think last year was an aberration. They know there are people who aren't yet ready to believe in the Buffs — and they are fine with that. Nobody believed last year, either.

The Buffs know the proof isn't in the polls. The truth is delivered on Saturdays — and they will spend the summer working and waiting for their turn to have their say.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu