What’s a football-loving Coloradan to do?
A Denver Post reader recently left a voicemail for the staff taking issue with the front page of Sunday’s sports section. “CU losing,” the caller said, sounding fully fed up. “Broncos shouldn’t even be playing. … CU and the Broncos should not even be covered until they manage to win a game.”
A little stern, but I’ve received much nastier messages than that in my career. And the caller has a point.
Denver’s got a Super Bowl-winning coach teaming up with a Super Bowl-winning quarterback to present some bafflingly inept football for a three-time Super Bowl-winning franchise. Yuck.
Now, The Post is not about to stop covering Colorado’s NFL team or its flagship university’s football team. Wouldn’t be prudent, to quote Dana Carvey quoting George Bush in skits that aired when I was in preschool. But I suspect this reader, who did not leave a name, isn’t the only one who’s sick of watching the Buffs and Broncos lose.
I’m here to tell you you’ve got options. If you can’t stomach Amateur Hour at Mile High, try tuning into the actual amateurs.
Last weekend gave college football fans in Colorado no shortage of things to talk about: Coach Prime’s Buffs, who do just about everything with dramatic flair, blew a 29-point lead to a not-good Stanford team Friday night. Thrilling for a neutral observer, crushing for a Buffs die-hard.
Then Colorado State did basically the inverse on Saturday night: The Rams erased a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter, nailing a Hail Mary pass to beat Boise State for the first time in program history. The agony and ecstasy — and the unpredictability — of it all make college football uniquely compelling.
But, to our unnamed caller’s point, CU and CSU aren’t the only exciting college teams on the Front Range. They may not even be the best college teams on the Front Range. They’re certainly not the winningest.
Undefeated Air Force has been quietly blowing out opponents like San Jose State (45-20) and San Diego State (49-10) all season. This week the Zoomies finally broke into The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 22 on the heels of an impressive 34-27 comeback win over rival Wyoming. That’s not an easy thing to do from the Mountain West Conference: Air Force joins No. 23 Tulane as the only Group of 5 schools on the list.
If Colorado Springs isn’t really your vibe, I’ve got another undefeated option for you: The state’s most successful college football team in recent years plays in Golden. Colorado School of Mines earned its first No. 1 national ranking (up from No. 2) this week after Saturday’s 45-22 win over South Dakota Mines.
In doing so, the Orediggers (7-0, 5-0 in RMAC) jumped previous No. 1 Ferris State — the same Ferris State that beat Mines in last year’s D-2 national title game. Every athlete and coach in the world will tell you they don’t care about the rankings, but that’s still gotta feel good.
The Bulldogs tumbled to No. 9 after an ugly 49-28 loss to rival Grand Valley State, and the new No. 2 is my personal favorite D-2 school, Pittsburg State (Go, Rillas!). Remember these names because you may be hearing them again when Mines makes a deep run into the postseason.
The Orediggers will be hosting No. 15 Western Colorado — another unbeaten team, based out in Gunnison — on Oct. 28 for an RMAC showdown with postseason implications. General admission tickets are $10 for adults, or you can ball out with a $25 reserved chairback at Marv Kay Stadium, so go see this one in person.
So, which football team is the best in Colorado? In a head-to-head contest, the answer is still the Broncos. Denver’s got 53 NFL-level players on its roster and the local college teams have … fewer than that. But “best” can mean a lot of things.
CU’s Shedeur Sanders leads the nation in yards passing at 2,420. CSU’s Mohamed Kamara is first in sacks (9.5). Air Force leads in team yards rushing at 334.2 per game. And Colorado Mines has by far the best shot at ending this season with a trophy.
The Broncos have given fans a lot to grumble about this season. Don’t let that keep you from appreciating the unbeaten football teams we’re lucky enough to have here in Colorado.
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