Boulder – Colorado coach Gary Barnett has cast a No. 25 vote for his Buffs the past two weeks in the USA Today coaches poll. Now, he has company. Lots of it.
And as a result, the Buffs are back in the rankings.
CU is now known as the No. 24 Buffs. They are ranked 24th in The Associated Press and USA Today polls, the first time Colorado has appeared in either poll in two years. The Buffs were last ranked No. 17 in 2003 before their loss to Washington State on Sept. 13. They dropped out of the rankings after a 47-26 home loss and hadn’t been back until Sunday.
Additionally, the Buffs are the first Big 12 North team to be ranked since Missouri was No. 24 in the Week 8 USA Today poll last season.
“It means a lot to the whole program,” quarterback Joel Klatt said, “recruiting and all those types of things.”
Defensive tackle James Garee, however, wasn’t overly impressed.
“It’s nice,” Garee said. “But I’d rather be ranked at the end of the season, you know?”
Asked in a postgame interview if he thought CU should be ranked after its 41-20 win over Texas A&M, Klatt said, “Absolutely. In one poll, (Texas A&M) got more votes than us, and in the other poll I think we had more votes. To beat them like we did, plus we have just one loss, and if you ask the Miami players, we beat them up physically but shot ourselves in the foot.”
Colorado gets to sport its new ranking this weekend in Austin against the No. 2 Texas Longhorns. It’s the Buffs’ biggest game thus far this season, and some have already called it a possible Big 12 championship preview.
Barnett said once CU’s game against the Aggies was in hand in the third quarter, many players began thinking about the matchup with the undefeated Longhorns (5-0). Texas has won 16 of its past 17 games dating to 2004, and owns a 24-1 record in Big 12 home contests under coach Mack Brown.
“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty decent position now,” Barnett said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
