Colorado's move to the Pac-12 equals zero conference wins for a struggling program.
Teams that are considering the conference switch should take a serious look at Colorado before making any move. Last season, Colorado announced it would leave the Big XII conference for the greener pastures of the newly configured Pac-12. Well the transition has been anything but smooth for the anemic Buffaloes.
Colorado is an abysmal 1-8 with no conference wins in its inaugural Pac-12 season. The low point thus far was a 2-45 loss to Oregon in which after the game first year head coach Jon Embree was found smiling saying, “I’m smiling because you have to smile to keep from crying. It is hard because I feel that we have missed opportunities.”
Missed opportunities would be a gross understatement for a team that is not competitive in conference play. The team has one of the worst rushing attacks (ranked 114th overall) and a vanilla offense that can’t find the end-zone (ranked 111th overall, averaging only 18.8 points per game). Meanwhile, the defense is allowing a staggering 38.3 points per game. The Buffaloes could conceivably win zero conference games this year and if it wasn’t for an early season win against instate rival Colorado State, the Buffaloes could have lost every single game this season.
Unfortunately, Embree inherited a Dan Hawkins team that failed to boast a winning record since he took over in 2006. Thanks to Hawkins, Embree is currently battling a 19 road game losing streak and there is no signs of a win this season with USC, Arizona, UCLA, and Utah left on its slate.
Despite having one of the league’s worst offenses, Embree is still confident in his team and continues to instill in his players that “it’s still important to them to play and try to win, and it’s still important to them to compete and try to find a way to try and build what we’re trying to do here.”
This team has a very long way to go from the glory years of the 90’s. But let’s not forget, before considering a conference change, look at Colorado, because joining in on the conference shuffle doesn’t necessarily translate to success.
