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Buffs deliver the turnaround we'd all been waiting for. 

Let’s be clear: 2016 was spectacular for Buffs football.

Never mind that the postseason was no cause for joy. The point is, there was a postseason — for the first time in a decade — preceded by months of fingers- crossed hope, feverish optimism and real wins. Ten in all, eight in the Pac-12.

The prior season, CU was 1-8 in conference play.

This wasn’t just a turnaround; it was an about-face.

On Twitter, one football fan — a Nebraska grad, no less — proclaimed it “movie-worthy.”

So, fans are excited about Colorado football again, and should be. Besides winning lots of games, the Buffs won a division title, played in a conference final and, for the first time since 2007, appeared in a bowl.

Along the way they delivered a thumping win (44-7) over Colorado State, made a good run at Michigan, reached a top 10 national ranking, sold out Folsom Field for the first time since 2008 and made a lot of people happy.

In the bitter end, the Buffs faced off in the Alamo Bowl against another great team, Oklahoma State, on ESPN.

Buff Nation can admit the bowl went badly (38-8 loss) and still feel great about the season, which defied all expectation and led to a heap of coach-of-the-year awards for head coach Mike MacIntyre.

As former CU and NBA basketball star Chauncey Billups (Soc ex’99) tweeted to the team in December, “You guys made us all proud this year.”

The 2017 season opens Sept. 1. 

See a more in-depth breakdown of the season, and what's to come, by clicking the images below. 

Photos courtesy CU Athletics/Glenn Asakawa