Since I’ve been following college football, I do believe that 1971was the only season that a conference had teams finish 1, 2 and 3 in the final poll. I mean, think about it, has that ever happened before in your memory? I know sports fans have short memories, but come on.

Much is said about national champions Nebraska and Oklahoma, the top two teams. The Sooners of Oklahoma could have just as easily won the national title if things had gone their way in the Game of the Century. In spite of all the attention the Huskers and Sooners received, not much is ever written about the 3rd ranked Colorado Buffaloes. I plan on doing something about that.

Head coach Eddie Crowder’s Colorado Buffaloes were actually unranked when the 1971 season began, and they opened up with a huge challenge for anyone. They played host to the 9th ranked LSU Tigers. The Tigers were good in those years with talent like future NFL star Bert Jones at quarterback, but Colorado jumped on them early and often and took them down in Boulder, 31-21.

That upset was enough to get Colorado into the polls and it turns out it wasn’t exactly an upset after all. This Colorado team was pretty good and the latest polls now had them ranked 12th.

Next up was the Wyoming Cowboys. The Cowboys were still smarting from the Black 14 incident of 1969 which deserves a post of it’s own soon. Colorado beat them with the old and infamous ugly stick, 56-13, and no

prisoners were taken.

Now, it was for real because the Buffs were ranked 10th and they had a date with the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio and the Buckeyes were ranked 6th at the time.

Of course, this Ohio State team was a day late and a dollar short because the Super Sophomores had used up their eligibility and they were a bit more normal. They were definitely overrated at 6th.

Colorado convinced a lot of people that they were for real on that day when they beat the Buckeyes, 20-14. It’s always impressive to come into Columbus and beat the favored Buckeyes. It’s never an easy place for an opponent to win even against a team that wasn’t their best.

The Buffaloes were now ranked 6th with their Big 8 schedule waiting for them.

Kansas State was up first and they weren’t really terrible like most pre-Bill Snyder Wildcat teams, unless you consider how badly Oklahoma beat them. The Sooners scored an amazing 75 points on Kansas State, but the Wildcats also scored 28 on a great Oklahoma defense.

Colorado beat Kansas State, 31-21 and moved to 4-0 on the season.

Iowa State has always been an up and down program and they were up in 1971. Led by 1,300 runner George Amundson, the Cyclones finished 8-4 that season. It would have been difficult to have a much better record when you play the top 3 teams in the country. They naturally lost to top ranked Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado of the Big 8 and then they lost to LSU in the Sun Bowl.

The Buffaloes beat Iowa State with the respectable score of 24-14.

Now ranked 6th, the next challenge on the schedule for the Buffs was 2nd ranked Oklahoma. But, that was more than a tall order with the Sooners clubbing Colorado, 17-45. Yes, Oklahoma was just that good with their new Wishbone offense and led by quarterback Jack Mildren, who had been a very highly rated quarterback out of Abilene, Texas. The Sooners won the recruiting war for Mildren and the results were showing on the field.

The Texas Longhorns had invented the Wishbone. But, as I’ve always said, it was the Sooners that perfected the bone and they ran all over the Longhorns in 1971 with a 48-27 convincing win. But, like the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Longhorns had lost the members of the Worster Bunch heralded recruiting class and they weren’t quite as good in 1971 as they had been the past 3 seasons.

But, truth be known, Oklahoma was just that good. They had size and they had great speed on both sides of the ball and they broke numerous national rushing records in 1971. They beat Colorado in impressive fashion, but the Buffaloes were still a really good team.

The Missouri Tigers were up next, but they were having a horrible season after winning the Big 8 title just two years earlier under head coach Dan Devine. The Green Bay Packers stole Devine from Missouri and he was replaced by Al Onofrio who was struggling to remain afloat. He would have better days ahead, but 1971 was a bad year to be a Tiger fan. The now 11th ranked Buffaloes hosted the hapless Tigers and beat them, 27-7.

Colorado was 6-1 and ranked 11th, but top ranked Nebraska was next up. The Huskers were a machine coached by Bob Devaney. Quarterback Jerry Tagge was a good runner, but an even better passer and I-back Jeff Kinney was as tough as nails.

Receiver Johnny Rodgers would go on to win the Heisman Trophy in 1972 and he was explosive. The Husker defense was maybe even better with All Americans everywhere. Oklahoma was speed, but Nebraska was power.

Medicines like lowest price on viagra also are being sold from the online pharmacies. It’s really no secret that sexual interest, closeness, and interest appear to level off buy cialis usa following the first couple of many years of marriage. Kamagra is mainly introduced in tablets that viagra sale mastercard are taken orally with water. The power group said it would tadalafil cheap pay out 3.5million to the poorest households it supplies. Of course, the Huskers beat Colorado, in Lincoln, 7-31.

The now 6-2 Buffaloes were ranked 13th with only Kansas, Oklahoma State and Air Force remaining on the schedule. They proved to be little problem for the Buffaloes as they gored them all convincingly to finish 9-2 in the regular season.

With a Bluebonnet Bowl invitation the Colorado Buffaloes faced 15th ranked home town team, the Houston Cougars. Led by 1,700 rusher and future Dallas Cowboys star Robert Newhouse, the Cougars could be a big challenge for the Buffaloes with their Houston veer offense. Houston was 9-2 with losses only against ranked Arizona State by one point and to 4th ranked Alabama and their new-fangled wishbone attack.

Houston was good, but the Buffaloes beat the Cougars 29-17 to finish their season 10-2.

With the dominating Nebraska Cornhuskers winning the national championship after they destroyed 2nd ranked Alabama in the Orange Bowl, 38-6.

The Oklahoma Sooners gave Nebraska every thing they wanted in the Game of the Century before losing 35-31. Anybody watching that game would have to have admitted that the spectacular shootout could have gone either way. Oklahoma was ranked 3rd after losing to the Huskers and passed Alabama in the final polls after beating Auburn and their Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan in the Sugar Bowl, 40-22.

With the SEC’s best Alabama and Auburn out of the way, the Colorado Buffaloes moved into 3rd in the final polls.

Colorado deserved the ranking and they had some talent. This was Eddie Crowder’s best team.

Probably, the two best known players were wide receiver Cliff Branch and defensive back Cullen Bryant. Colorado rarely threw the ball, but Branch was simply outstanding. He averaged over 25 yards per catch and ran a 10.0 100 meters. Branch was drafted in the 4th round and had a Hall of Fame like career with 67 touchdown receptions. He played 14 seasons with the Oakland Raiders.

Bryant was a standout with the Los Angeles Rams, but at running back, not defensive back.

Receiver Larry Brunson played for several NFL teams and starred in a movie.

Charlie Davis was their top running back and he topped the 1,000 yard barrier with over 1,300 yards and he was later a 2nd round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals.

But, the running back position was loaded with John Tarver playing in the NFL with the New

England Patriots and Bo Matthews was a 1st round pick by the San Diego Chargers.

Tight ends JV Cain and Jon Keyworth also played at the next level as did offensive linemen Greg Horton and Jake Zumbach.

The defense had some players as well with All American defensive tackle Herb Orvis going in the 1st round to the Detroit Lions.

Linebackers Billie Drake and Mark Cooney were huge for their time at 6-1, 235 and 6-4, 230, but neither was a factor in the pros.

Defensive back John Stearns was drafted by the NFL and MLB and went the baseball route which worked out superbly for him as he was a 4 time All Star.

This Colorado team lost to both Nebraska and Oklahoma and they lost big. But, as far as talent, they were every bit the equal and all the SEC bragging continues, but not once has the SEC ever finished 1, 2 and 3 in the final standings as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oklahoma Sooners and Colorado Buffaloes did in 1971.

1971 was the year of the Big 8 Conference. Year of the Big 8