Preseason – CU choice for No. 1 in The Sporting News


Article Archive

  Preseason – 1997 Unlike 1996, when two-time defending national champion Nebraska was the undisputed choice for the No. 1 team in the nation, there was little consensus as to who would finish as the No. 1 team at teh conclusion of the 1997 season. Florida was given by some an excellent chance at repeating, but there were also those who found merit in the chances of others.  Penn State, Washington, Tennessee, Florida State, Nebraska, North Carolina, and yes, even Colorado, received votes for No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason …

READ MORE >>

  National and Big 12 recap – 1996 The Florida Gators captured their first-ever National Championship under head coach Steve Spurrier with a dominating 52-20 win over arch-rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Florida, 24-21 losers to the Seminoles late in the regular season, would not have had the chance for the re-match and the opportunity for the national title had it not been for some late season fades by other title hopefuls. Ohio State saw its undefeated season go by the boards with a late season loss to …

READ MORE >>

— The Eight Million Dollar Extra Point — The fallacies of the Bowl Alliance were never more acutely displayed than in the final weeks of 1996. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Wyoming, BYU and yes, even Colorado were victims of the system which was designed to end arguments over polls and bowls. Notre Dame played Southern Cal in its regular season finale. The Fighting Irish were 8-2, ranked No. 8 in the country, and poised to play in either the Fiesta or Orange Bowl. Either of the two Alliance Bowls would have …

READ MORE >>

— Preseason – 1996 — The August 16, 1996, edition of the Buffalo Sports News had quarterback Koy Detmer and linebacker Matt Russell on its cover. Modeling the Buffs’ new uniforms, Detmer and Russell were posed wearing uniform numbers 19 and 96. The headline read: “Is this the Year?” It was a question which was being asked often about the 1996 Buffs, and not just in Boulder. Nebraska was the two-time defending national champion, but the consensus of the preseason prognosticators was that Colorado had the talent to win it …

READ MORE >>

The title for my 1996 CU season history is “Oooh, so close” … The Buffs finished the season with a 10-2 record, only two close losses keeping CU from a shot at a national title … Karl Dorrell as offensive coordinator as CU posts third straight ten-win season …

READ MORE >>

— CU at the Game – Birth of a Notion — While many of the materials – programs, newspaper clippings, etc., – used for this work had been accumulating in my basement for over 15 years, the idea for using these treasures for a book did not come to fruition until 1996. I have always read sports-related (that is to say mostly football-related) books, but for me, in the off-season between the 1995 and 1996 campaigns, the topic of college football became an obsession. Perhaps it was the heightened anticipation …

READ MORE >>

In the final season of the Big Eight, CU’s surprising choice for head coach, Rick Neuheisel, rode a backup quarterback (John Hessler) all the way to a ten-win season and a No. 5 final ranking …

READ MORE >>

The Buffs take on the nation’s most difficult schedule … The brawl with the Miami Hurricanes in Boulder … Lamont Warren and Charles E. Johnson connected on the “national play-of-the-year” to take down No. 9 Oklahoma … Satisfying Aloha Bowl win to cap the season …

READ MORE >>

  — 1992 -“Air” Bill — National and Big Eight Recap – 1992 The 1992 college football season was dominated by the Miami Hurricanes. That is to say, at least Miami dominated all the way up to its National Championship showdown against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  There, the Crimson Tide throttled Miami, 34-13, to win Alabama’s sixth national title, the first for head coach Gene Stallings.  Alabama finished the season 13-0, claiming the nation’s first undisputed title since 1979. Miami’s quarterback Gino Toretta, despite having a quarterback rating of …

READ MORE >>

— National and Big Eight recap – 1991 — For the second consecutive year – after occurring only twice in the past twenty – the college football season ended with a split national championship. The Miami Hurricanes went 12-0 in 1991 to win the Associated Press title, it’s fourth championship in nine years. Miami was forced to share the limelight, however, with the Washington Huskies, who also went 12-0. Washington was awarded the national championship by the Coaches’ poll, later re-named the CNN/USA Today poll. Both teams went 11-0 in …

READ MORE >>

An epic 19-19 tie against Nebraska helped CU post a three-peat as Big Eight champions … Big wins included a 34-17 victory over No. 12 Oklahoma in Norman, and a win on a fake field goal against Oklahoma State (with videos of all three games) …

READ MORE >>

A game-by-game look back at the 1990 national championship season, with highlight videos from …The Texas game … The 5th-down Missouri game … The Oklahoma game … The Nebraska game … and, of course, the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame …

READ MORE >>