Boulder – Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski will be at Folsom Field on Saturday to get a look at the Colorado Buffaloes, a team that at the moment figures prominently into his plans.
“Is Colorado of interest to the Holiday Bowl? The answer is, right now, absolutely yes,” Binkowski said Monday. “They are certainly in our sights.”
Colorado is one of two Big 12 Conference teams Binkowski is eyeing for the Dec. 29 San Diego game. Oklahoma is the other. Holiday Bowl representatives were in Lincoln last weekend.
“It all depends on what happens with games this weekend, who else could be in our picture,” Binkowski said. “If Colorado wins out, for example, if they are 9-2 and go to the Big 12 title game, that would make them attractive to the Holiday Bowl.”
Possible opponents would be UCLA or Oregon, Binkowski said. But this is contingent on the Bowl Championship Series. UCLA could get an at-large bid or win out, defeat Southern California and go to the BCS, which would likely send two Pac-10 teams. CU could advance to the Big 12 title game and win, possibly sending two Big 12 teams.
“All sorts of things could happen,” Binkowski said.
The Big 12 champion goes to the BCS, with the Cotton Bowl in Dallas getting the first selection of at-large Big 12 teams. The Holiday Bowl gets the second pick of at-large teams.
The Holiday Bowl makes its decision Dec. 4. Working in CU’s favor is a good relationship between Binkowski and Buffs athletic director Mike Bohn that began in Bohn’s days at San Diego State.
Colorado played in the Holiday Bowl once, in 1996, when it beat Washington 33-21.
“That was a great matchup against Washington,” Binkowski said. “We had great TV ratings, and had about 55,000 (fans).”
Seniors call meeting
Not satisfied with their play at Kansas State, Colorado’s seniors called a team meeting Monday.
“It’s mostly because of the (Missouri) game coming up,” CU coach Gary Barnett said. “They understand how important this game is, and they know that we have to play better than we did last week.”
Colorado escaped with a 23-20 victory at Kansas State.
“We wanted to say something about the penalties and all of the small things that are killing us right now, just to tell everyone what it’s going to take for us to finish the season strong,” tight end Joe Klopfenstein said.
CU is 4-1 in the conference. Missouri is 3-2.
Injury updates
Defensive end Alonzo Barrett (PCL tear) is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and might play this week, trainer Steve Willard said. Barrett is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game.
Willard expects running backs Hugh Charles (ankle) and Byron Ellis (ankle/shin) to play, as well as offensive lineman Edwin Harrison (ankle), linebackers Brian Iwuh (hamstring) and Jordon Dizon (neck stinger) and wide receivers Dusty Sprague (concussion) and Evan Judge (shoulder). Defensive end Alex Ligon (knee) is questionable.
Footnotes
Mason Crosby received his third special-teams player of the week award. He nailed a 50-yard winning field goal over Kansas State. … There are 5,700 tickets left for Saturday’s game.
