One last June update

Most of the remaining 19 members of the 2013 recruiting class reported last Sunday, June 23 (QBs Liufau and Gehrke were already on campus and OL John Lisella will greyshirt and join the team in January) and, for the first time in recent memory, everyone was cleared with no academic issues impeding anyone’s enrollment or participation. Although players are working out together in during summer session, they are not allowed to be observed or coached at all, except by the strength and conditioning staff.  They will “report” officially for Fall camp August fifth and the first official practice will be August sixth! On top of that, the program picked up its fifth verbal commitment. Go Buffs!

The saga of incoming TE Connor Center (who was the last to report) is even more interesting than just the fact he hadn’t played organized football since middle school.  It turns out he became motivated partially because of the death of a friend who had tried really hard to get him to go out for football.  He even gave up his senior season of baseball.  He is an athletic beast at 6’8 250, runs a 4.6 in the 40 and he “didn’t drop anything” when he held a workout with a former Akron quarterback throwing to him. On top of that, he is a coach’s dream because is an open book and a clean slate to work with and he has yet to learn any bad habits. Definitely a player to watch down the road. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Loss-drives-player-to-unthinkable-heights-4617825.php#page-1

Recruiting 2014:  The Buffs picked up their fifth verbal commitment of the cycle, with all five having received three stars from someone.  Rick Gamboa is a big-hitting three-star inside LB from Chaminade/West Hills, CA (same school as frosh WR Elijah Dunston). He was rated one of the top five LB prospects from California and the West Region and also had offers from Idaho and UTEP with interest from many others like Oregon, Washington, and UCLA.

Gamboa joins QB Cade Aspay (Canyon Country, CA), DB/WR Chance Waz (Pflugerville/Hendrickson, TX), LB Grant Watanabe (San Antonio) and OT Oliver Miller (Longmont/Silver Creek).

If you are on twitter, follow any of the coaches (@TroyWalters is the consensus best follow) and when you see a solitary “#CUin14” it means that the Buffs have received a new verbal commitment (although they cannot officially comment).  Of course, you could also follow me @unicodavidsmith and I retweet most of the interesting Buff info, as well as other football stuff, some poker and other random things my niece tweets out.

FYI- Besides the Washington Huskies and Steve Sarkisian tweeting some form of “woof” when they get a new verbal commitment, Miami (FL) uses “#WelcomeToTheU”, Texas A&M “YESSIR”, Kentucky and Ole Miss both use “Yahtzee!”, while Texas Tech and nebraska tweet “Boooom!”, NC State sends out something about “the red light” (that one is interesting), while Butch Jones at Tennessee (who requires his coaches to tweet) will add a brick to a wall next to their National Championship trophy and then tweet a picture of it to symbolize a new brick being added to the program (yeah, really feeling like we missed out there).

Summer workouts: CB Greg Henderson reports that the defensive secondary is working hard and making strides.  They gained a lot of experience last year and are now working against a much better receiving corps in practice and, as is the case in so many areas, it can’t be worse than last year.

With the freshmen reporting, the whole team is together and working out.  Kyle McCall of The (Daily) Camera put a recap of the 2013 class: http://www.buffzone.com/ci_23544825/afternoon-drive-cu-footballs-2013-recruiting-class-lands?source=rss_viewed

Paul Richardson tweeted: “Our freshman WRs are gonna shake things up in Fall camp. Yea, I said it!  All the returning WRs are ready for the competition! #GoBuffs”

Preseason honors, previews and prognostications: Jeremy Fowler of cbssports.com gave an in depth look at how far the program has fallen, but gives a taste of that positive outlook that head coach Mike MacIntyre is trying to instill in the team and fan base.  QB Connor Wood was as open as anyone has been talking about the team discord during last season’s abysmal run, with offense and defense calling each other out and coaches seemingly not in control of it all.  That all is supposedly gone now, but I wonder with the voting for captains spread so wide that they had to name six instead of traditional four. Here’s the piece: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22498021/with-macintyre-hire-colorado-football-tries-to-heal-once-again

BoulderDevil gives a positive perspective that Mike MacIntyre can parallel what Jim Harbaugh did at Stanford, taking an even worse offensive 1-11 Cardinal team to 8 wins and a bowl in three years, similar to what MacIntyre did at San Jose State.  http://buffwatch.blogspot.com/ June is the time to dream big while following recruiting hype.

An interesting prediction from “zonazealots.com” who follow suit and say CU is the obvious choice for last in the Pac-12 South, but then go on to actually predict a 4-8 record, one of the only places to do so (a few have said “three or four” but haven’t seen anyone but real homers think 4 is realistic).

ESPN bloggers gave each conference “Future Power Rankings” based on their thoughts about teams’ prospects over the next three years and CU was not surprisingly last in the Pac-12.  Utah was 11^th, but another analysis of the Utes was that they may need 30 years to catch up to Pac-12 teams overall in athletics and they will need to funnel a lot of their effort and dollars to their other sports. However, if WSU (10^th) falls, they will plummet really hard under Pirate Leach.

Then, the bloggers also asked readers to send their own power rankings in and published many of them.  Not surprisingly still, CU was usually last and never higher than 10^th, and I can’t really argue with that until Mac and the boys prove differently.

RB Christian Powell is getting a lot of love and mentions in preseason articles.  His size (6’0, 240 lbs.) and freshman production (691 yards, 7 TDs) were very intriguing last season as a freshman, and he is the frontrunner for the starting job, along with Sr. Tony Jones.  Powell was listed 23^rd among the ‘best of the rest’ in their top 20 Pac-12 “Heisman Contenders” article.  However, remember that last year was his first ever being more than a fullback who only occasionally carried the ball in high school, and it took a toll on him with numerous injuries, including a concussion which lingered well beyond the season.  Regardless, I believe both Powell and the speedier Jones will share the bulk of the touches no matter what, with a bunch of younger guys fighting for the scraps.

PacificTakes’ Jack Follman ranked Pac-12 offensive linemen with Stanford dominating the list (as well as UCLA, Oregon and Oregon State) but with CU’s probable starting guard (not sure which side yet and it could still be at center) Daniel Munyer coming in at number eleven.  “Munyer is a bright spot on a Colorado line that has been relatively ineffective, especially in pass protection, but Munyer is a good run blocker who helped open up holes for Christian Powell and he earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 last season.”  No mention of Jack Harris, who has gotten some decent pub at tackle, nor anyone else from Colorado.

Phil Steele’s magazine is out with gobs of information, including statistical analysis/predictions on yards and points scored and given up.  Although he predicts that CU will close their gap between points scored and given up by two touchdowns, they will still average two touchdown losses and give up the most overall yards in the conference.

The morons at AddictedToQuack (Oregon) did a Pac-12 receivers preview writing of Colorado that “there isn't much reason to expect them to come out of the bottom quarter of the league” while completely failing to mention Paul Richardson in any way?!  I doubt that he will be that big of surprise to the actual quackers when they visit Boulder.

John Henderson of the Denver Post gave a decent synopsis of the preview mags and CU (without giving off hardly any of his anti-Buff bias): http://blogs.denverpost.com/colleges/2013/06/24/football-magazines-not-kind-to-colorado-but-give-p-darragh-oneill-some-props/27638/

Bill Connelly did extensive previews on all Pac-12 teams and Colorado’s is by no means sugar-coated. http://www.sbnation.com/2013/6/27/4456388/colorado-buffaloes-football-2013-schedule-roster-preview/in/4234737

No matter how bad a team is, how hard its schedule is, or how unrealistic it may be, all teams and fan bases are shooting for, hoping for, praying for at least 6-6 and the all-important bowl game (and accompanying 15 practices). How could you not? 

JazzyUte of BlockU put it best for his Utes, but it certainly applies to the Buffs and many others as well: “I know most (Utah in the post, but insert CU or other pathetic school of choice here) fans expect a bowl game and that alone would probably make 2013 a successful season - even if that bowl game comes on the heels of a 6-6 season and takes us to New Mexico.” (my emphasis)

By the way, the team is talking confidently again and at least QB Connor Wood is openly talking the six wins and a bowl game.  P-Rich also claimed that as the goal earlier in the spring.

Other Buff Notes: The AD search committee met for the first time with Chancellor distephano briefing them.  Their two main code words afterwards were “patience” (meaning nothing will actually happen for a long time) and “confidentiality” (which means nothing about the candidates’ privacy but that they aren’t going to tell us jack shit until the deal is done, or someone leaks something).

I find it interesting that Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren does not have one of CU’s six multi-year contracts (MacIntyre and DC Kent Baer do, as well as the volleyball coach (seriously folks?!), both head basketball coaches and the AD will) even though he is a young, up and coming offensive mind, the kind of guy schools are tabbing for their head coaching slots.  MacIntyre, as of December 1, when it will be official that the school has raised nowhere close to the promised $50 million to get the facilities upgrade started, will be able to leave without any buyout or penalty if, and more likely when, a better school and offer comes around (many people are already betting on Vanderbilt where his father coached).

Baer’s contract figures were released and they are very similar to Bienemy’s: $250,000 base + $200,000 in supplement (camps and others things) + courtesy car + country club membership and $2500 worth of Nike apparel (does he get a gift card or does he go to the warehouse on a shopping spree for this?).

Former CU kicker and punter Zach Grossnickle, who was one of a few players told by Embree not to bother coming back his 5^th year of eligibility, has found a home for next season at Washington.  As he did in Boulder, Grossnickle will practice a lot, provide depth, take classes (although they are graduate level now, and even better if he actually scammed another year of scholarship here) and not really get to play. (Note: Grossnickle was the starting punter his redshirt freshman year under hawkins, but was then promptly beat out by a guy who had never really played organized football or punted before.)

Basketball Shoutouts: Congrats to Andre Roberson for getting drafted number 26 in the first round of the NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder and earning a guaranteed contract with a championship contender!  It’s a great place for him to play his game, rebounding and defense to contribute on a great team, without being expected to score.

Also props to Spencer Dinwiddie for earning one of 12 spots, from a group of 26, to represent the USA at the upcoming World University Games.  Time to showcase for the world and NBA scouts.

SIGH: It’s sad to remember that entering the 2005 Independence Bowl, Nick Saban and Alabama had an identical 6-6 record to the Buffs. Unfortunately, while that moment was rock bottom for Bama who went on to win the game and start their run back to 3 championships in four years, it was actually a mini-peak for a Buffs program that has only regressed since then and has not been able to turn the trend around.  May this be the year!  Go Buffs!

More June action (updated)

A decent amount of note has transpired while I was out of town, including summer workouts going full force, with most of the remaining freshman class reporting very soon.  Coaches are out on the recruiting trail while the team is picking up commitments.  Media outlets are even writing some okay things about the Buffs. Update: An AD search committee has been formed (see below).

Roster Notes: MacIntyre and staff added an intriguing 2013 prospect to the roster when previously unknown (since he focused on baseball and did not play football at all in high school) TE/OT prospect Connor Center (Albany, NY) visited Boulder and committed on the spot.  The 6’8” 250-pound beast finished up high school realizing that he wasn’t going anywhere on his baseball talent, worked out in 7-0n-7s with some friends, sent some film off and suddenly had multiple offers from Syracuse, Miami (Fla.) and CU among others.  He’ll start out at TE, likely red-shirting this season, but moving to tackle if he puts on weight and/or doesn’t show the hands. He’ll report with the rest of the 2013 class this Sunday, June 23.

Incoming recruit OL Sam Kronshrage, who had a racist tweet sent from his phone, will also report with the rest of his class.  I guess MacIntyre has moved on, taken the word of the kid and his family, but probably has a lot shorter leash for Kronshrage than for others. 

QBs Sefo Liufau and Jordan Gehrke reported early and have been working out with the team.  Early reports out of workouts are that Gehrke is very accurate, while Liufau is not, although his size and athleticism seem to be impressive.  Connor Wood still “would be the starter” if they today according to MacIntyre.

*Of note: everyone is cleared and there are no academic problems with any of the 2013 class.

Summer workouts: Players are running very organized, twice weekly sessions this summer, as opposed to very loosely run and attended 7-on-7s in the recent past.  They do individual and group drills as well as some scrimmage situations-all planned and designed with coaches during spring ball.  The last day, post scrimmage was to practice practicing and give focus areas for individuals and groups.  The Strength and conditioning coaches also do some conditioning work at each session. LT Jack Harris said his offensive line group is getting some good experience with the attrition and projected starter Daniel Munyer inured.  Kawai Crabb and Alex Kelley will vie for the last spot when Munyer returns.

Sophomores TE Vincent Hobbs and WR Gerald Thomas are both in summer school classes and attending the workouts.

Captains: I was wondering what the deal was but after multiple team votes, it was finally announced that the Buffs will have a record six captains for the 2013-14 season, four seniors, two juniors, 3 each from offense and defense. A forgone conclusion was LB Derrick Webb, who was also a captain last year and will be only the sixth multi-year captain in Buff history (most recently were RB Bobby Purify and QB Joel Klatt). Also, really no surprise was DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe, LT Jack Harris, and even Jr. WR Paul Richardson. However, Sr. LB Paul Vigo, who is mostly a passing down guy, is also one of the six, as well as now projected starting QB Jr. Connor Wood. 
Only four can represent the team at midfield each pregame so they will rotate (planned?) so that each will be out there eight times. I am not going to bother with the math.

I don’t know if having so many captains is a sign of lots of great, popular leadership, or differing opinions and factions within the squad.  Time will tell, and the answer will be telling before long.

Recruiting 2014: The Buffs got their 4^th verbal commitment with QB Cade Aspay (Canyon Country, CA), a consensus 3-star QB (yes, Devil, I will continue to list “stars” as one parameter-do with it what you like).  Aspay chose CU over Pac-12 rival Arizona, and had been getting interest from a lot of schools.  He was one of the last guys not to make the cut for the Nike Elite 11 camp that gets so much hype (they actually took fewer players this year). Some think getting your QB early is good to help bring in other guys.

He joins Chance Waz (Pflugerville/Hendrickson, TX), a two-star DB/WR prospect, who committed last week.  The Buffs project Waz as a CB but he said he would play “where ever” to help the team. He chose the Buffs over Pac-12 Utah and a bunch of small Texas schools.
Another prospect from Texas, LB Grant Watanabe (San Antonio) also chose the Buffs over Utah.  He is a three-star, undersized LB already drawing comparisons to Jordan Dizon (hey, this is why we follow recruiting right?).
Local boy three-star OT Oliver Miller (Longmont-Silver Creek) was the first to commit and he hopes to convince some of his in-state opponents and friends to help re-build the Colorado tradition.
At least three of the recent commits took unofficial visits and were impressed enough with what they saw to commit soon thereafter.  Each of the four 2014 verbals spoke about how comfortable they felt with the coaching staff.

CU coaches have made the state of Colorado a priority, as have all the other schools in the state, but this staff is definitely walking the walk, having visited every 5A and 4A school, ~95 percent of the 3A schools, plus a good number of 2A, 1A, and even A-8 man and A-6 man schools, reminding those in attendance at the College Kickoff luncheon (head coaches from all schools in state), one of the best running backs in Colorado history came from an 8-man program in California, Rashaan Salaam.  They started this trek on a snowy April Monday when many people stayed home and have not let up.

Buff coaches are now volunteering at camps across Texas, after working some in California, and have been offering prospects left and right, including S David Williams and LB Zach Brown.  Look for more commits soon.

When the staff receives a verbal commitment, it has joined many other programs by sending out a quick tweet: “#CUin14” from one of the coaches’ twitter accounts notifies fans that the Buffs have received a new one, without officially commenting in any way.  My favorite one from another school is the Washington Huskies and Steve Sarkisian, who tweet “woof woof” when they get a new verbal.

Previews and preseason honors: Athlon (who puts out a lot of material and lists) said CU is one of the ten teams most likely to improve, going out on a limb and saying that the Buffs will triple their win total to three!  They continue with the “well, it certainly can’t get worse” theme plus “they get P-Rich back”, adding that the Buffs must win the first two vs. csu and Central ArKansas and could sneak one at home from Cal or Utah.

Last season’s team MVP P Darragh O’Neill continues to get the most recognition of any Buff as he is seemingly the consensus Pac-12 first team punter, being tabbed by Athlon now.  The only other Colorado mentions were third teamers WR Paul Richardson and OG Daniel Munyer (who could actually still end up at center).

Jack Follman from PacificTakes.com is ranking Pac-12 position groupings and gave Colorado their due with a solid number six ranking for receiving corps (WR and TE) ahead of Utah, ASU, Cal, UCLA, Arizona and Stanford, and just behind Washington State.  “It might be surprising to see Colorado this high at any position, but the truth is that the Buffs have a decent group of receivers with Richardson coming back from injury. If healthy, Richardson is an All-Pac-12 guy and Spruce and McCulloch are reliable targets that put up good numbers last season.” He lists Richardson as the seventh best receiver in the conference overall.
He ranks the top TEs and lists only seven, none from CU.  However, if Vincent Hobbs gets it together and does what he has shown sparks of at times, he could surprise and up the value of the entire receiving group.
Follman also ranks the conference “Backfields”, including RBs and QBs because so many offenses count on the quarterback to carry the ball as well, with CU landing at ninth: “Wood and Dillon aren't standouts, but Powell and Jones team together to form an underrated and sneakily dynamic duo at running back. Powell can run over guys and get the tough yards at 240 pounds while Jones is more of a shifty guy with speed.”

Other Notes: Fall camp opens August fifth!

AD Search: UPDATE: Originally, I had written what is crossed out below, but less than a half hour after posting it, the news came out that CU has formed a seven member committee to search for and hire a new Athletic Director (Fundraiser), preferably before the football season starts (which is pretty standard timeline for an AD).  Ceal Barry will not be a candidate to take over on a full-time basis as she will chair the group, which also includes perennial CU Faculty rep David Clough, faculty rep Joe Jupille, vice-chancellor/chief financial officer CU-Boulder Kelly Fox, Kurt Gulbrand of the CU Foundation, writer/alumni rep Doug Looney, and track athlete/student rep Brittany Lewis.  Most importantly, Phil DiStephano does not appear to be involved any further.  The committee will decide whether or not to employ a "search firm" to aid the process. However, really the most intriguing factor will be about how much money can they offer any reputable candidate, or if they will just go cheap and take the wrath of many fans?
It will likely be a lot longer than that before we see a new AD, as they haven’t even formed a search committee yet.  Is this just another way to save some money by letting Ceal cheaply run the show for as long as possible, before anteing up for someone who can make a splash?  At least she’s honest and admits there is no way they will meet the Dec. 1 deadline of $50 million to kickstart the facilities upgrade, which will technically allow MacIntyre to leave without penalty.

Former WR/TE DaVaughn Thorton, who could never seem to get it all together here, has joined CSU-Pueblo (the home of Buffs castaways like Bernard Jackson, Bryce Givens, Seth Lobato, Wil Jefferson and others) and coach John Wristen for his last year of eligibility.  This is probably a good fit for him as his size and speed will stand out a lot more at this level.

Lots of June news...

The firing of the bohnhead has dominated the news.  President Bruce Benson and Chancellor Phil DiStefano have bungled this process as badly as they (with the bohner) handled the Embree firing and the Butch Jones courting.  CU administration just looks plain stupid as they say the university yet again makes a vague statement that they will “double donations” by 2018 (RTD or “Athletics 2010” anyone?) just like that.  The new AD will be important in changing the attitude and culture around the entire campus, or the Buffs will linger in the lower tier of the Pac-12 in football and in general for a long time. BoulderDevil did a pretty thorough piece on the CU leadership, of lack thereof anyway: http://buffwatch.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-defense-of-mike-bohn-cus-leadership.html 

In the meantime a few items have run across the wire…

Roster Moves: Perhaps the most important announcement yet of the Mike MacIntyre era was that TE Vincent Hobbs would indeed be returning to the team this Fall.  His father is out of the hospital and doing better and Hobbs is back on campus working with the team.  Hobbs is a very athletic TE and could wreak havoc in this offense.  It would have been a very thin position without him.

Also returning to the team and working out in June, now in good standing after a difficult spring, is WR Gerald Thomas. His re-addition makes the WR corps deeper than it has been in years.

Defensive lineman De’Jon Wilson is also back on campus and working out with the team.  Wilson was the star of the scout team last year while he redshirted and much was expected of him this season, but he found himself in some type of predicament that kept him from participating much in the spring.  He could play almost anywhere on the line.

Coming as no surprise though, RB Davien Payne is the one player who is not returning to the team.  He was suspended for academics during the spring and had a “lot to do” to get back with the team. 

Incoming recruit OL Sam Kroshrage sent out a racist tweet after a playoff baseball game last week in Texas.  He claims that someone else sent the text from his phone during a party and has apologized profusely.  MacIntyre said this is a teachable moment for kids and he is considering banning twitter use among players if problems persist (remember that Yuri Wright also got into some twitter trouble last spring which led to him committing to CU instead of Michigan or others).

Captains: The team voted for captains at the end of spring ball but “eight or nine guys”, including a “couple of juniors,” got lots of love from teammates in the open vote.  MacIntyre said he could end up going with some type of rotation but that players will vote from the list of 8 or 9 and the team should know who their four or five captains are for 2014 by June 19.

Recruiting 2014: The Buffs have received two verbal commits so far-LB Grant Watanabe (TX) and OT Oliver Miller (Longmont-Silver Creek) so far, which is still good enough national rankings of 70 (Rivals) and 75 (Scout), which is actually ahead of Oregon St. (only 1 commit) so that the team is not last in the conference!

The Buffs hosted their first camp of the summer and reportedly offer a bunch of other guys and are getting some national attention.

Previews and preseason honors: At this time of year magazines and websites are all putting out rankings and lists.  In searching for CU information, I find it easiest to scroll down and start from the bottom of the page.  The Sporting News was the latest to jump on the Buffs last in the South bandwagon and commented that MacIntyre “may need all five years” of his contract to turn the program around. However, P Darragh O’Neill was the only Buff to make their all-Pac-12 team.

Lindy’s seems to like MacIntyre, rating him as a top five hire.  However, he gives the Buffs a 93^rd national ranking, last in the conference. 

He also gave O’Neill the nod as 1^st team Pac-12 punter and P-Rich as 2^nd team receiver, but surprises many with the addition of CB Yuri Wright on the 2^nd team also-if that one comes to fruition, the defense will have had a stellar year.  RB Christian Powell made his 3^rd team Pac-12 list.

Jack Follman of PacificTakes.com has started his series ranking the top twelve Pac-12 players at each position.  So far, Buffs are not clogging the top of the lists.  Christian Powell is 9^th among RBs: (Although) “Powell's future as a feature back isn't set in stone…with no other major options emerging, it's likely that he will carry the full load for Colorado again in 2013. Also, at 6'0 240, he is far and away the best big back in the conference right now.

Connor Wood was listed as “others considered”, not even making the top 12 QBs, with Oregon St. and USC both placing two QBs on the list.

Ted Miller of the ESPN Pac-12 blog did a piece ranking each team’s top offensive trio at QB-RB-WR (or TE), and of course the Buffs, even with P-Rich (with Wood and Powell), were ranked dead last, although he did say they are “better than you think”.

Not a single Buff made any of Phil Steele’s top four Preseason All-American teams.

Steele did however, name Darragh O’Neill as his first team punter on his Preseason All Pac-12 team, as well as including WR Paul Richardson on the second team (in a receiver-rich conference), DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe on his fourth team and S Marques Mosley as third team kick returner.

Steele also has a “stock market indicator” where he ranks the percentage (based on what I have no idea) probability that the team will have more wins than the previous year.  The Buffs only rate a “3” giving them, in Steele’s mind anyway, only a 75% chance of pulling out more than last year’s one win.

In addition to the obvious recognition of P-Rich, and the widespread love for Darragh O’Neill, one other positive mention was Chidera Uzo-Diribe being named by the Pac-12 blog as one of the most likely players to get double digit sacks this year.

Other Notes: Larry Scott announced that the Pac-12 will take the lead with the NCAA and will limit contact in practices to reduce the risk of injuries.  Some are worried that this will give the Pac-12 a competitive disadvantage if everyone else doesn’t follow suit.  MacIntyre said the Buffs will only go full speed with hitting and tackling once a week during the season and the conference will likely limit teams to two per week, so the Buffs won’t be affected there.  However, if they put further limits on spring contact, it might affect what the staff can do.  Currently teams are allowed 7 tackling practices over 15 total over 35 days. CU and many others split their 15 total and 7 tackling before and after spring break to give players ample recovery time.

Ivan Maisel spoke with Big 1o blogger Adam Rittenberg on his podcast and while talking about Gordon Gee and Ohio St. he mentioned that a university president was a just a fundraiser with a fancy title; Ivan responded that the true fancy title fundraiser is an Athletic Director (and there was no reference to CU at all, not even with Gee’s past connection).

Pac-12 revenue numbers are coming out.  Jon Wilner calculates that the conference will receive almost $253 million this year (from its television contract, bowls and NCAA distributions), which works out to each team getting ~$21 million of that each (except Utah, which will still receive a partial share this year).  That would almost pay off the debt the Athletic Department has!

The Pac-12 Networks were also profitable, although we don’t know by how much, and the speculation is that the conference will roll those profits into the network to improve and expand (up to 750 events total from 550).

Lastly, I am embarrassed, ashamed and disgusted that the Buffs are a 3.5 underdog to the lambies (not surprisingly all Pac-12 opponents are at least 20 point favorites, except Utah which was not listed).  Stuart has more intestinal fortitude than I do and did a piece on the rocky mountain “rivalry”: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2013/rethinking-csu/