What a difference one game can make.
With just about everyone in the country doubting them, Colorado strolled into Fort Worth and upset the No. 17 Horned Frogs in the first game of the Deion Sanders era. The hype around Coach Prime’s program has grown exponentially and all of a sudden, the Buffs are favored against Nebraska heading into Week 2.
Upon the conclusion of Sunday’s final Pac-12 game, Trojans Wire managing editor Matt Zemek released his updated conference power rankings and gave Colorado the top spot post-Week 1. USC, meanwhile, was ranked No. 5 after a less-than-perfect first two games.
Here’s what Zemek wrote on the Buffs:
The Boise State team Washington beat might be better than TCU, but that’s something we will have to wait to discover over the course of the season.
Why is Colorado No. 1 and Washington No. 2? Colorado won outright on the road as a 20-point underdog. Washington merely did what was expected. Colorado’s degree of difficulty — therefore the enormity of its achievement — is greater. Colorado achieved the most. That’s why the Buffs are No. 1 after Week 1 in the Pac-12.
We’ll see how long Colorado can stay atop Zemek’s power rankings, but Coach Prime’s squad has an excellent opportunity to start 2-0 with the Cornhuskers coming to Folsom Field on Saturday.
At No. 2 on Zemek’s list was the Washington Huskies, who the Buffs will fortunately miss in the regular season.
Entering Week 2, the Pac-12 Conference is a perfect 13-0 (USC has played two games).
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