How Colorado can qualify for a bowl game after Stanford loss

And just like that, Colorado went from a probable bowl team to a Power Five team that will only play 12 games this season. The Buffaloes entered Friday night as a sizable home favorite over rebuilding Stanford. They were 4-2 (1-2) on the season, and held at one point a 29-0 lead over the Cardinal. After a second-half collapse for the ages, Colorado lost in overtime to struggling Stanford, 46-43.

This was a game Colorado should have improved to 5-2 (2-2) on the season. It was at home, it was on a Friday night and they were arguably the better team. Instead, CU finds itself at a so-so 4-3 (1-3) entering its bye week. So Colorado would need to win two of its next five games to finish the regular season at 6-6 (3-6) and be able to go bowling. Unfortunately, Stanford was a guaranteed win for them.

Here is a look at what the Buffaloes are up against coming out of their bye week in two Saturdays.

Colorado is probably going to play four ranked teams, at least three, as well as a massively improved Arizona Wildcats team that has taken better programs like USC and Washington to the brink already.

Do the Buffaloes even have a realistic shot of getting to a bowl game now with a required 6-6 mark?

Here is how the Colorado Buffaloes can still achieve bowl eligibility now

At this point, nothing is a guaranteed victory anymore for the Buffaloes. Again, Stanford at home should have been a win, and the Buffs nearly lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils last weekend. As far as games that are winnable, Arizona at home on Nov. 11 is a must-win and getting Oregon State at home the week prior is probably their next best bet. They could conceivably win a road game as well.

The problem with that logic is which one? At UCLA might be very challenging. Finishing the season on the road with games at Washington State and Utah could be brutal. Heck, even Oregon State at home is going to be incredibly difficult. In short, Colorado will have plenty of opportunities to get two more wins in their next five games, but every matchup the rest of the way is not in the Buffaloes' favor at all.

Ultimately, Colorado went from having a little wiggle room heading into their bye week as a probable bowl team. Unfortunately, that horrible Stanford loss has removed pretty much all margin for error for them. Again, they have plenty of opportunities to make up ground, but the second half of their schedule looks far too daunting for them to realistically navigate it to achieve sacred bowl eligibility.

This is the game Deion Sanders and his coaching staff will look back on as the one that got away.