Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders pushes official in loss that could keep Buffaloes out of College Football Playoff

Entering Saturday, No. 16 Colorado controlled its own destiny for the College Football Playoff. Now the Buffaloes face a steep hill.

The Buffaloes lost to Unranked Kansas37-21, in their quest to secure an automatic bid into the 12-team playoff bracket.

The Jayhawks took a 17-0 lead into their senior day. But early in the third quarter, the Buffaloes cut the lead to two points after Travis Hunter’s second touchdown run, which included a Heisman touchdown.

But Kansas responded with a 10-play touchdown drive, then forced a three-and-out and found the end zone to lead 37-21 in the fourth quarter. Running back Devin Neal scored all four of the Jayhawks’ touchdowns.

Colorado’s next drive resulted in a turnover on downs, but pretty much iced the game.

In the third quarter, there was a melee between the players and officials intervened.

Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders shoved one of the officials from behind, prompting rules analyst Mike Pereira to suggest that Sanders was “lucky” not to have been ejected.

It was a microcosm of what was a frustrating day for the Buffaloes, who lost their third game of the season.

Kansas’ victory marked the first time in FBS history that a team with a losing record won three straight games against ranked opponents. The Jayhawks are 5-6 this season.

It remains to be seen what Colorado’s path to the College Football Playoff is.

Arizona State, now 9-2 with a 6-2 conference record, moved ahead of Colorado (8-3, 6-2) in the Big 12 standings by beating BYU. BYU and Colorado share the same conference record, and BYU’s overall record is 9-2. Iowa State (8-2, 5-2) will face Utah at 7:30 p.m. ET and would jump Colorado with a win.

Colorado would need a home win against Oklahoma State and some sort of combination of losses from Iowa State (at home to Kansas State), Arizona State (at Arizona ) and BYU (at home against Houston).