Colorado no longer has control of its postseason destiny, but the Buffs can keep their Big 12 title game hopes alive for at least another day if they secure a win against Oklahoma State on Friday.

Four Big 12 teams are tied at the top of the conference after a wild Week 13 and Colorado needs a win Friday plus some big upsets around the conference Saturday in order to reach the championship game.

Before head coach Deion Sanders and the Buffs (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) can look ahead to anything else, though, they need to bounce back from their loss at Kansas last week and secure a win over an underwhelming Oklahoma State team (2-8, 0-8).

“Tough week, but we plan to respond accordingly,” Sanders said. “We plan to get our little swagger back and fix the things that we let down last week -- tremendous game. We still got, you know, a little bit hanging on. We are trying to flush it, trust me, we trying to flush it tremendously.

“But sometimes it's little things that creep up on you. You remind yourself of the opportunity you had, and you pray that you still have an opportunity. But I want it for the young men so badly that it's hard to just totally flush completely."

Our CU Sports Report staff discusses the key storylines for the Buffs and gives score predictions.

Troy Finnegan: The concern for Colorado in this game is responding from a massive letdown last week. The Buffs have responded admirably to their two previous losses, but neither of those games carried the same stakes that the Kansas game last week did. It would be natural for CU to be deflated and come out a little flat on Friday.

Combine that with a short week over a holiday against a struggling opponent that would be easy to overlook, and you get a situation where Colorado could come out with little energy. The Buffs have already started slow in their last three games, so that’s something to be alert for in this game.

Nikki Edwards: After a week where Colorado allowed its most rushing yards since 2022, it needs to contain the 2023 Doak Walker winner, Ollie Gordon. Colorado’s run defense took a significant hit as Devin Neal recorded 207 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Kansas took a few notes from Kansas State’s playbook with DJ Giddens and exposed Colorado on the ground. Up until last week, the Buffs' rushing defense was able to manage the run in their four straight wins. However, Neal and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes outplayed the Buffs front.

CU's poor execution on the ground last week needs to be “flushed,” as Sanders mentioned because despite Oklahoma State’s record the offense has been running through Gordon.