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ARTICLE: JR Payne's rebuilt roster establishing a strong chemistry early

“Ten new players is probably double what I’ve ever had, but fortunately for us, it’s a good mix of transfers and freshmen and great kids and great chemistry so far,” Coach Payne said.

More on Payne's new-look 24-25 squad as preseason practices are underway:

COMMITMENT: Colorado flips 2025 DB Antonio Branch Jr. from Penn State

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Following his official visit to Colorado over the weekend, high three-star safety Antonio Branch, Jr. has flipped his commitment from Penn State to the Buffs this morning. The 6-foot-3, 172-pound prospect from Miami Northwestern was one of the official visitors for Saturday's game against Baylor and the trip pushed him over the top to make a switch with his pledge. He made the trek to Boulder along with four-star Indiana cornerback commit Byron Baldwin, who CU is now trending for as another flip coming out of the weekend.

LSU, Michigan, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Louisville and Miami are some of the other programs that offered Branch throughout the process.

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ARTICLE: Tad Boyle's new-look Buffs hoping to establish identity this fall

“We've got some guys that can really score it and shoot it, which is a good place to start, but we gotta develop that identity,” Boyle said.

More from the Buffs’ first official practice ⬇️

Buffs NewsStand - Sep 24

BZ: FB - Four-star DB Antonio Branch flips commitment from Penn State to CU Buffs

BZ: FB - Supporting cast came up big in CU Buffs’ overtime win in Big 12 opener

BZ: FB - Rooney: CU Buffs 3 extra points (Sept. 23, 2024)

BZ: WBB - Remodeled CU Buffs women’s basketball kicks off preseason practice

BZ: MBB - Preseason to-do list lengthy for CU Buffs men’s basketball

BZ: MBB - Men’s basketball notes: CU Buffs ready for move to rugged Big 12

CU AD: WBB - Buffs Open Practice for the 2024-25 Season (Colorado enters the year with 10 newcomers)

CUATG Blog: FB - Colorado Recruiting Class of 2025 - Antonio Branch, Jr. – DB

Ralphie Report: FB - Colorado flips multiple four-star safeties after Baylor win (Winning helps recruiting! Who would’ve thought?)

Ralphie Report: FB - The 5 most important plays in Colorado’s unforgettable win over Baylor (There were some magical moments in this game but these plays were game changers)

Athlon Sports: FB - What Did Shedeur Sanders' Hail-Mary Throw Do For His NFL Draft Stock?

Athlon Sports: FB - Travis Hunter Made College Football History on Saturday

Athlon Sports: FB - Terrell Owens Sends Two-Word Message to Deion Sanders After Colorado-Baylor

KSL Sports: FB - Big 12 Power Rankings: BYU Surges After K-State Win, Utah Comfortably At Top (7. Colorado (3-1, 1-0 Big 12))

UCF AD: Gus Malzahn Press Conference - Colorado Week

Click Orlando: FB - ‘They’ve got playmakers:’ UCF football previews upcoming Colorado game

On3: FB - Paul Finebaum: Travis Hunter highlight could put him in ‘driver’s seat’ for Heisman Trophy

Buffs Wire: FB - Updated Big 12 football power rankings after Colorado's first conference victory (8 - Colorado)

Buffs Wire: FB - How are former Buffs performing with their new teams in 2024?

Cheers!

Starting To See A Future For CU Sports

While a move to the Big 12 wasn't my personal choice "if" CU changed conferences, I do see the move as a "step" in the right direction. Part of me hoped The PAC 12 would find suitable replacements for USC and UCLA, but the reality was that USC and UCLA are irreplaceable. Okay, maybe if the PAC 12 drew the winning lottery ticket and found a way to convince Notre Dame and SDSU, or UNLV, or Boise State, etc. For now, let's just call it Notre Dame and a Program "to be named later". That just wasn't going to happen. Ever !!! So, after the 2023 season two PAC 12 "bedrock" programs, USC & UCLA say goodbye to the Conference they played a massive role in building and take their teams as well as a top 3 TV market to the Big 10. There are still 10 solid schools left in the PAC 12, but this is an era when Conferences are growing, not declining. Television contracts are the lifeblood of college sports. Football is far and away the driver of television contracts with Men's Basketball a distant 2nd. Women's Basketball is starting to make some waves, but it is Football that rules.

While the SEC and the Big 10 have NEVER taken their eyes off of Conference expansion, somehow the PAC 12 and Big 12 each let two of their premier Programs get poached. It didn't take long for the Big 12 to react with the addition of 4 promising Programs. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are all good to very good Programs. Cincinnati has made the CFP within the last 3 or 4 years, and TCU played for the National Championship just last year. Clearly, the SEC and the Big 10 are the two premier Conferences in the P5, but the Big 12 is doing everything possible to stay in the race.

I am beyond thrilled that CU isn't among the remaining PAC 10 teams "waiting" for a new Television Contract. Maybe I have underestimated Rick George and his desire to keep CU among the Programs that survive this turmoil. Thrilled that I didn't see on the news that Utah, or Arizona had been offered a spot in the Big 12 and accepted. We all read the articles and statements about the current solidarity in the PAC 12. Nobody is leaving. The PAC 12 is committed to growth and expanding the Conference. Yeah, with who ?

Thankfully, CU had the foresight to lookout for their own Program. Unless we see changes soon, the former PAC 12 will open 2024 with 9 teams. This will be interesting. The remaining PAC teams will have to go with 4 out of Conference games to make up a 12 game schedule. The PAC 12 has been waiting over a year to get a decent TV deal. Well, to the networks, the value of said deal didn't just move up, it went down with CU's announcement. It feels good to be able to pat CU's Admin on the back and say well done. Much better to make your own move and abandon the sinking ship to join and exciting new/old Conference vs. cling to a Conference that appears to be dying. I already miss the nostalgia, history and tradition of the PAC 12, but it was gone as soon as USC and UCLA announced their move. Years from now after the dust has settled and books have been written, history may well look back and determine that the PAC 12 died of arrogance. CU managed to escaped death and will live on to fight another day.

Is it just me, or doesn't the Big 12 need one more team to get to 16 teams ?

My thoughts and concerns….

Ok @BuffaLaw8487 and @dtownbuff , let’s get after it!!

1. As I mentioned a couple times in other threads, Shadeur Sanders looks a little bit off on his short throws especially.

2. Travis Hunter is playing incredibly well on both sides of the ball. I guess other teams simply aren’t even throwing his way. His tacking is WAY better this year as well, and he is MUCH more aggressive now.

3. I am not a Will Sheppard fan right now. I think we should let Omarian Miller play instead.

4. While I am liking what I’m seeing with a little bit more emphasis on the run game, it is hard to know why our offensive line is so bad still. Maybe the predictability of the passing game has something to do with it, but it seems like we should be able to coach our guys better. do they really have absolutely no talent, or is it all poor coaching, or is it lack of continuity, or combination of all the above? We better get it figured out otherwise SS might be killed this year.

5. I think our defense is actually playing pretty well. We are still way too vulnerable to the quarterback draw, as it seems every college quarterback these days is very mobile and it’s killing us, and we are vulnerable to gash plays still but generally our defense is playing pretty salty and I like it. I am a Livingston fan.

6. Not sure what that defense is where we leave the middle completely open, apparently to let linebackers make plays? We just get gashed every time we line up that way - and often in short yardage situations.

7. I do love Cam Silmon-Craig.

8. Special teams not very special. Kickoffs gonna be interesting the rest of the year!

9. Clock management still suspect. Granted the refs really hurt us with a really bad call when we should’ve had a first down, or at the very least they should’ve stopped the clock to see if we had a first down, essentially costing us about 25 seconds and a time out near the end of the game.

10. I haven’t seen as many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties recently, possibly because Shiloh has been injured and off the field.

11. I wonder why we can’t get our TE involved a little bit more. We try, but the plays we try on just don’t seem like the best fit for our particular TEs. I would like to see them throw over the middle to them more.

12. Travis Hunter might be the closest thing to unstoppable on offense that I’ve seen for quite some time.

13. I like Micah best at RB, at least until Hayden gets back.

14. Not sure if I could completely tell on TV or not, but it seemed like the fans stayed the whole game. Yes, debatable decision to rush the field, but having that much fan support in the rain in a game where we really weren’t playing that well is a very good sign.

Whatu got!

Over / Under Week 4 vs Baylor Results

6 Overs and 4 Unders this week. ldbuff takes this week with 7 correct.

Weekly picks will go first, weekly results 2nd and overall standings will be at the bottom (let me know right away if I made any mistakes):

1) CU Points - 27.5 - Actual = 38 Over
2) Baylor Points - 25.5 - Actual = 31 Over
3) CU Total Offense Yds - 439.5 - Actual = 432 Under
4) Baylor Total Offense Yds - 399.5 - Actual = 314 Under
5) Baylor Rushing Yds - 183.5 - Actual = 166 Under
6) CU 1st Downs - 21.5 - Actual = 24 Over
7) Hunter Receiving Yds - 87.5 - Actual = 130 Over
8) Tackles by Hunter/Bentley/McKinney - 16.5 - Actual = 12 Under
9) CU Longest Play - 37.5 - Actual = 58 Over
10) Baylor Longest Play - 37.5 - Actual = 45 Over

TB1 - Number Punts - Actual = 13
TB2 - Punt Return Yards - Actual = 98

Weekly standings:
7 - ldbuff
6 - BuffAloha, NCBuff, MrMcBeath
5 - dtownbuff, Longtimebuff1
4 - buffskickbut, SoCoBuff, CRBuff, QiNMing
3 - BuffFan42, BuffTicket
0 - Highlands CPA

Season Standings:
24 - CRBuff
23 - ldbuff, QiNMing, MrMcBeath
22 - Longtimebuff1
21 - BuffAloha
20 - BuffFan42
19 - BuffTicket
18 - buffskickbut
17 - dtownbuff
16 - NCBuff
12 - SoCoBuff, Highlands CPA

9.22.24 AP poll

1-Texas (44 1st place votes)
2-Georgia (11)
3-Ohio St (5)
4-Alabama
5-Tennessee
6-Ole Miss
7-Miami
8-Oregon
9-Penn St
10-Utah
11-Missouri
12-Michigan
13-USC
14-LSU
15-Louisville
16-Notre Dame
17-Clemson
18-Iowa St
19-Illinois
20-Okla State
21-OU
22-BYU
23-Kansas St
24-A&M
25-Boise St.

Others receiving votes:
Washington St. 67, Indiana 63, Boston College 55, UNLV 53, Pittsburgh 37, Nebraska 25, Iowa 24, James Madison 11, South Carolina 7, Liberty 4, Arkansas 3, UCF 3, Arizona 2, SMU 2, Navy 1.
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