Welcome to State Championship Week!
Sort of.
With the (4-6) off until Nov. 23 following a cathartic 16-13 home victory over Stanford, the focus for Front Range football turns to back to Fort Collins, where the surging (4-5), winners of three straight, brace for a showdown with Air Force (7-2), winners of four in a row.
The Falcons, who remained at No. 5 in the Denver Post Best of the West top 25 poll released this morning, could claim an undisputed intrastate title with a victory at Canvas Stadium on Saturday in the Ram-Falcon trophy game.
The Zoomies came out of a Sept. 14 visit to Boulder — their first visit to CU since 1973 — with a 30-23 overtime win. The Buffs, who moved up to No. 18 in the Best of the West rankings, opened the season with a 52-31 victory over No. 21 CSU at the Rocky Mountain Showdown, posting a 1-1 mark over in-state foes.
Which means the Rams — who as of Monday morning were a consensus 10-point underdog to the Academy in Vegas — could, with a victory, leave all three of Colorado’s FBS programs with identical 1-1 marks this season against in-state peers, as well as snatch the Ram-Falcon trophy for the first time since 2015.
And then … well, then we’d probably just have to declare Mines (10-0), which visits Chadron (Neb.) State on Saturday afternoon, the state champ.
Sort of.
The rest of the Best of the West top 25 poll — which ranks the best teams in the FBS from the Front Range to the Pacific Ocean, as culled from the Pac-12, the Mountain West and BYU — otherwise pretty much stayed true to form: Unchanged at the very top, unchanged at the very bottom, and a holy hand grenade in the middle.
Post colleges writer Sean Keeler (@SeanKeeler) and Post deputy sports editor Matt Schubert (@MattDSchubert) vote on the top 25 every Monday; this week’s guest voter was Post digital director Daniel Boniface.
In other regional matchups of note, No. 1 Oregon (8-1) and No. 2 Utah (8-1) have to continue to try and stay on the College Football Playoff committee’s radar and avoid the Pac-12’s pesky upset bug with home tests against Arizona (4-5) and UCLA (4-5), respectively. And No. 7 Wyoming (6-3) will try to rebound from an overtime loss at No. 3 Boise State with a visit to No. 11 Utah State (5-4).
The latest Best of the West follows, with in-state squads listed in bold:
THE DENVER POST BEST OF THE WEST TOP 25 POWER POLL — NOV. 11
1. Oregon (8-1) (3 first place votes) — Last week: 1; Up next: vs. ARIZ
2. Utah (8-1) — Last week: 2; Up next: vs. UCLA
3. Boise State (8-1) — Last week: 3; Up next: vs. NM
4. Washington (6-4) — Last week: 4; Up next: BYE
5. Air Force (7-2) — Last week: 5; Up next: at CSU
6. USC (6-4) — Last week: 7; Up next: at CAL
7. Wyoming (6-3) — Last week: 8; Up next: at USU
8. BYU (5-4) — Last week: 12; Up next: vs. IDST
9. Arizona State (5-4) — Last week: 9; Up next: at OREST
▲10. California (5-4) — Last week: 17; Up next: vs. USC
11. Utah State (5-4) — Last week: 16; Up next: vs. WYO
▼12. San Diego State (7-2) — Last week: 6; Up next: vs. FRES, Fri.
13. UCLA (4-5) — Last week: 14; Up next: at UTAH
14. Hawaii (6-4) — Last week: 15; Up next: at UNLV
15. (4-5) — Last week: 10; Up next: vs. STAN
16. Oregon State (4-5) — Last week: 13; Up next: vs. ASU
▼17. Stanford (4-5) — Last week: 11; Up next: at WAZZU
18. CU (4-6) — Last week: 20; Up next: BYE
19. Nevada (6-4) — Last week: 22; Up next: BYE
20. Arizona (4-5) — Last week: 18; Up next: at ORE
21. CSU (4-5) — Last week: 19; Up next: vs. AFA
22. Fresno State (4-5) — Last week: 21; Up next: at SDSU, Fri.
23. San Jose State (4-6) — Last week: 23; Up next: BYE
24. UNLV (2-7) — Last week: 24; Up next: vs. HAW
25. New Mexico (2-7) — Last week: 25; Up next: at BOISE
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The next Best of the West poll will post at 8 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 18.
