30 games that will eventually decide the 12-team College Football Playoff

Every year, a few games change the scope and brevity of the race towards the College Football Playoff. This year, one game already made a major impact, and these 30 others should give us a look into who will participate in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.

Michigan defensive lineman Kris Jenkins (94) celebrates a tackle against Ohio State. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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17. Kansas State vs. Colorado: Oct. 12

What is Colorado? They have insane talent, led by the son of the head coach Shedeur Sanders. On any other team, Sanders could drive wins all by himself. He’s followed his father at multiple surprising stops. Colorado isn’t the typical team to get a five-star quarterback prospect, but these are different times in Boulder.

However, we can’t ignore how bad things fell apart in Colorado last season. After literally all of the hype, including College Gameday with an insane crowd in Week 3, the Buffaloes could not hold onto the momentum. They lost every game of the season after October 7th after starting the season 3-0 before a humbling experience against Oregon.

On the other side is quite the opposite. Kansas State never gets hype. Yet, they might have a really good team here. Will Howard is back, looking to put himself in a different conversation if he’s able to go blow-for-blow with Sanders (both the coach and the quarterback). The Wildcats could be a really interesting team when it comes to the Playoff. The Big 12 is wide open, and many think it’s Kansas State’s division to lose.

This game does two things. One, it shows whether Kansas State is going to beat all the teams it’s supposed to. And two, it will show us the real Colorado pretty quickly. That loss last year to Oregon could have been blamed on too much hype or trying too much too soon, but this game is at a time where there are few excuses for either team. If Colorado can win, maybe they are a legit contender in the Big 12.

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