Colorado 2016.
This is the one that can make Cal fans salivate.
Colorado finished 4-9 overall and 1-8 in the conference in 2015, and was picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12 South in the 2016 preseason poll.
But the Buffaloes won the Pac-12 South and were ranked No. 8 in the country when they played in the 2016 conference championship game.
Like Cal’s 2018 team, Colorado had a returning starting quarterback and a no-nonsense running back (Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay, Cal’s Patrick Laird) who picked up a lot of yardage on the ground and was an outstanding receiver out of the backfield.