ESPN’s Herbstreit: ‘Shocked’ if Buffaloes don’t win Pac-12 South

After a decade of being away from the limelight of college football, the University of Colorado Buffaloes are rising back to prominence.

No, the Buffs didn’t crack the Top 25 in either poll again, but CU did garner the most other votes in both the Coaches and Associated Press surveys.

But perhaps what should have Buffaloes fans buzzing, ESPN’s longtime college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit told “Schlereth and Evans” Tuesday that he’d be “shocked” if CU didn’t win the Pacific 12­ South and earn a chance at a Pac-12 title.

“I’m a believer. I think the Buffs … I think they’re going to win the South. I think they’re going to get to the Pac-12 Championship game,” Herbstreit said.

Herbstreit went back into his notes from earlier in the season on Tuesady, where he had written down that Mike MacIntyre’s squad was the “best CU team in over 10 years” that he’d seen.

And Herbstreit credited the Buffs head coach with putting them into a position where they had developed players, returning more than a dozen starter, and pulling through some rough seasons doing so.

“He’s been developing this and growing and growing and now they’re peaking in his fourth year,” Herbstreit said of MacIntyre.

In terms of why it’s working in 2016 for the Buffs as opposed to previous years under MacIntyre, Herbstreit said:

“They have balance on offense. They’re running. They’re throwing. They’re very, very effective on defense. They’re getting people off the field on third down. I think they’re No. 1 in the conference on third down defense. They’re not giving up big plays on defense. So they’re doing everything right now right.”

The Buffs head to Palo Alto this weekend to take on the 4-2 Stanford Cardinal.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.