Will Colorado make a bowl game this season?

Deion Sanders' first year as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes started off like a dream. They upset the reigning national runner-ups from last season in TCU in the opener, leading to Shedeur Sanders getting immediate Heisman buzz and then a Top 25 ranking for the Buffs. That only improved further after wins over Nebraska and then a thrilling victory over rival Colorado State.

To say the wheels have fallen off since that start, however, would be a vast understatement.

Since their 3-0 start, Colorado has lost four of its last five games entering Week 10, including blowout losses to Oregon and UCLA, a 29-point blown lead in a loss to Stanford, and some truly ugly performances. Any hopes of the College Football Playoff died long ago, though they might've always been a pipe dream.

However, the postseason casts a wide net with all of the bowl games in college football, giving the Buffs some hope. That hasn't stopped people at this point from questioning, though, if Colorado is even going to make a bowl game this season.

Will Colorado make a bowl game in the 2023 season?

For those unaware, for a team to be eligible for a bowl game with no exceptions, they must win at least six games in the regular season. Thus, Colorado entered their Week 10 game hosting Oregon State with a 4-4 record, needing two more wins over their final four games to become bowl-eligible.

The problem for the Buffaloes has been that their finishing schedule is far from favorable for Coach Prime's team.

Starting with the Oregon State game, two of their final four games are against teams ranked coming into Week 10. Meanwhile, the other two games are against Washington State -- a talented team that has fallen off after a hot start -- and Arizona, who has been surging in the Pac-12 as of late. Asking a beat-up and flawed Colorado team to win two games in that stretch is a tall order.

At the same time, though, crazy things can happen. Moreover, with 41 bowl games in total (42 including the national championship), that means that 82 FBS teams have to be eligible for the postseason. If there aren't enough teams at 6-6 or better, the next candidates will be James Madison and Jacksonville State, teams who would be eligible if not for an NCAA rule prohibiting postseason play for teams making the jump from FCS to FBS for three years, would be the next invites. After that, bowls would then look to invite 5-7 teams.

Given the schedule before them and how they've performed of late, that might be Colorado's best chance at making a bowl game. They would clearly be a priority invite given the excitement they would bring to a postseason contest, but whether we get to that point is very much up in the air.

In short, it looks most likely that Colorado will not make a bowl game in the 2023 season. However, their chances of doing so aren't completely dead just yet.