A conference championship was never going to be easy

Colorado is still in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 title.

As of Saturday night, the Buffs sit alone atop the Pac-12 with a 9-4 record. Oregon (8-4) and Arizona State (7-4) have a chance to cut the gap on Sunday. UCLA and USC (8-5) are just behind. Arizona (7-4) is still very much in the hunt.

There’s plenty of competition still to come in the final three weeks of the season.

That’s how it’s supposed to be.

It’s frustrating to look back on the Buffs’ losses now and think of what could have been. The home game against Oregon State should have been a win. The road loss to UCLA should have been a win. The loss to Arizona on the road came just as the Wildcats were finding their rhythm, so it felt like a worse loss at the time.

But the loss to Oregon on the road isn’t a game that Colorado should have won, though it could have. The Ducks hadn’t lost at home all year and the Pac-12 as a whole was sporting a .727 win percentage at home in conference games.

It was a blown opportunity but it wasn’t a bad loss by any means.

It’d be easy to complain about the Buffs underperforming this season, because of their four conference losses, but to do so would to take a wildly self-centered view of college basketball. Virtually every team in the country has regrets, and every team in the Pac-12 certainly does.

Oregon would like to have back the losses to Oregon State and Washington State.

Arizona can’t be thrilled about losing to Oregon State or UCLA. Taking Oregon to overtime in Eugene and losing by one despite grabbing two offensive boards in the last 10 seconds can’t feel good.

USC lost by 32 to 2-11 Washington.

Stanford blew its 4-0 start.

Colorado hasn’t taken advantage of every opportunity but it has taken advantage of more than any other team in the Pac-12. That’s the real goal and that’s why the Buffs are on top of their conference.

On Saturday, with their backs against the wall, the Buffs did what they needed to do. They knocked off Oregon State by over 20 points, just like they beat every other conference opponent they’ve faced on the heels of a loss by over 20 points.

That’s the type of resilience you need to win a conference title because winning a conference title is remarkably difficult, not just in the Pac-12 but across Division I basketball.

There are 32 conferences in big-time college basketball. There are 353 teams. Only six teams in the entire nation have a two-game lead in their conference. Those are teams like No. 2 Gonzaga, which plays in the West Coast Conference, and No. 4 San Diego State, which plays in the Mountain West Conference.

Outside of SDSU, every team has flaws. The flaws are what make college basketball so unpredictable, so special. Don’t expect to avoid to them, but don’t ignore them either. Let them eat you.

The drama is what we’re here for.

No. 1 Baylor doesn’t have a two-game lead. No. 3 Kansas doesn’t have a two-game lead. No. 5 Louisville doesn’t have a two-game lead. No. 6 Dayton doesn’t have a two-game lead. No. 7 Duke doesn’t have a two-game lead.

The list keeps going. It has 347 schools. Colorado is one of them. That’s fine.

Odds are, Colorado will be tied for first in the Pac-12 by Monday morning. That’s fine, too.

The Buffs’ path to a Pac-12 title isn’t as easy as some of their competition. Again, fine.

Colorado has proven that it can execute when it has to. If this team is what we think it is, it will continue to do so.

Colorado can beat USC at home.

Colorado can beat UCLA at home.

Colorado can beat Cal at Cal.

Colorado can beat Stanford at Stanford.

Colorado can beat Utah at Utah.

Win all five and the Buffs will be regular-season Pac-12 champions. Win four and they’ll have a good shot because it’s unlikely Oregon, UCLA, USC, Arizona or Arizona State will be perfect the rest of the way.

Colorado has put itself in a great position to take the crown. That doesn’t mean things couldn’t be better, but they could be much, much worse.

If Colorado had beaten Oregon on Thursday, as it could have, the Buffs would be in a position to waltz to a title. They could sleepwalk through the rest of the schedule and still pick up enough wins to steal the crown.

But how much fun would that be anyway?

Give me a buzzer-beater for the title in the last game of the season any day.

That’s what college basketball is supposed to be.