Buffs Get a Break on Way to Title Game

DENVER (AP) -- Backing into the Big 12 title game? Crawling in is more like it for Colorado. But the Buffaloes are going for the fourth time in five years.<br> <br> When he got the surprising news Saturday, coach Gary Barnett reprised the old joke: What do you call the person who graduates last in his class from medical school?<br> <br> &#34;I guess if you can call that last guy ... `Doctor,&#39; you can call us champions,&#34; he said.<br> <br> The Buffs (7-4, 5-3) will play No. 2 Texas in Houston next week, a daunting trip, especially given their spirit-crushing 30-3 loss to Nebraska on Friday. <br> <br> CU&#39;s loss left the door open for Iowa State. But the Cyclones (7-4, 4-4) blew a 14-3 lead to Kansas on Saturday, then lost in overtime, and again, the Buffs found themselves alone at the top of the Big 12 North - a weak division they have managed to dominate for most of the last half-decade.<br> <br> Barnett conceded he was so sick about his own loss, he didn&#39;t bother watching Iowa State on TV. For the second straight year, though, the Buffs earned their trip to the title game thanks to the Cyclones losing by a field goal in overtime on a day CU wasn&#39;t even playing.<br> <br> &#34;It feels like Groundhog Year,&#34; Barnett said.<br> <br> Of course, Colorado&#39;s next trip will be anything but a vacation. <br> <br> The Buffs have already lost to Texas this season, 42-17 on Oct. 15. The Longhorns need a win to play for the national championship, so it would figure they won&#39;t overlook this game.<br> <br> Meanwhile, it&#39;s hard to imagine the CU players are feeling very good about themselves. Not after Friday&#39;s result. Many conceded they didn&#39;t deserve a spot in the Big 12 title game after the Nebraska debacle.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;ve got to figure that one out,&#34; Barnett said. &#34;I&#39;ll see if they feel differently today and on Monday.&#34;<br> <br> It was, indeed, an old-fashioned whoopin&#39;, the kind Nebraska used to put on CU back in the days when Tom Osborne was coach and the Buffs were bottom feeders in the old Big Eight.<br> <br> But now, the Buffs will try to put the Nebraska game aside to focus on the next daunting task.<br> <br> They will be heavy underdogs against the &#39;Horns. They face the very real prospect of riding a three-game losing streak into an even lesser bowl game than they were already slated for after the thumping from Nebraska.<br> <br> If they spring an upset, the national picture would devolve into chaos and the Buffs would find themselves in a BCS game. It hardly seems possible. But if anyone could believe, it would be Colorado, especially after these last two days.<br> <br> &#34;Now we&#39;ve got to do something with it, now that we&#39;ve been given this opportunity,&#34; Barnett said. &#34;And I&#39;m looking forward to going to work tomorrow. That&#39;s pretty much what it boils down to.&#34;<br> <br> © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.