Bottom Feeders: Predicting each Power Five college football conference’s last-place team

Pac-12: Colorado Buffaloes have their hardest conference games at Folsom Field

It may be a tad murky at the bottom of the Pac-12, but the 2022 slate looks to be a potential year from hell for the Colorado Buffaloes. They draw TCU at home to start the season, as well as play Air Force on the road in Colorado Springs and Minnesota in Minneapolis before commencing conference play. Would you be shocked if Karl Dorrell’s Buffs began the season in an 0-3 hole?

If you are looking for potential conference wins, it feels like grasping for straws. Their likeliest would be at Arizona in Tucson on Oct. 1. Then again, Jedd Fisch seems to have his Wildcats program trending in the right direction when it comes to recruitment. The Buffs’ easiest home game in conference play is either vs. Cal on Oct. 15, or potentially vs. Arizona State on Oct. 29.

Besides Cal, the Buffaloes also draw Oregon, Oregon State and Washington out of the Pac-12 North. The home date vs. the Ducks is a loss and the road trips to Corvallis and Seattle are not going to be the least bit easy either. Missing out on Stanford and Washington State is a scheduling quirk Dorrell wishes he had working for him in what might be a critical year for the head coach.

Let’s be real. How crazy would it be if CU did not win a game? That may be more likely than the Buffs beating all of their former Pac-12 South foes not named USC or Utah. The only reason why Colorado is not a more likely last-place candidate than what the ACC, the Big 12 or the SEC offer is there is a chance Pac-12 teams like Arizona or Stanford could be as horrendous if it hits the fan for them.

If you had to pick a team to finish dead last in the Pac-12, Colorado is not the worst bet to make.