Mike MacIntyre’s Colorado football team was predicted to finish last in the Pac-12 South prior to the start of the 2016 season. On Friday, the Buffaloes will play Washington for the Pac-12 crown.

MacIntyre has led college football’s most pleasant surprise, the No. 9 Colorado Buffaloes, to a 10-2 record, 8-1 mark in conference play and a Pac-12 South championship.

So it was almost a formality when MacIntrye was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

MacIntyre took over at Colorado following a 2012 season in which the Buffaloes went 1-11. The Buffaloes failed to win more than four games in three seasons between 2013-15.

This year, however, they broke through.

The Buffaloes also had several players earn end-of-season conference awards. Running back Phillip Lindsay and offensive lineman Jeromy Irwin were both named Second-Team All-Offense.

Linebacker Jimmie Gilbert was apart of the conference’s First-Team All-Defense unit.

And three members of the Buffaloes’ secondary — Chidobe Awuzie, Tedric Thompson and Ahkello Witherspoon — were apart of the Second-Team All-Defense.

The Buffaloes play No. 4 Washington (11-1, 8-1) in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. MT on FOX.

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