What do we want from the Colorado Buffaloes? What would make us happy?

That’s the question we have to start asking, and honestly, I’m not sure there’s that exciting of an answer.

Right now, the Buffs are 4-4 and about to head into the toughest part of their schedule, a stretch that would make even the best teams in the nation sweat. In their final five games, CU will face four programs that have spent at least some portion of the season inside the AP Top 10, and the other, Washington State, currently sits at a comfortable 4-2 record.

If we’re being honest, the Buffs will be lucky to win a single game the rest of the way.

Barring a major upset, the Buffs aren’t going to be headed to a bowl game, and they’re definitely not going to be finishing the season with a winning record. So does that mean that the season is already an abject failure?

Or do we flip this all on it’s head and look at the bright side, the fact that the Buffs have already topped their win total from last season? Is winning four or five games and snapping the embarrassing 14-game Pac-12 losing streak enough to consider this season a positive?

It’s a difficult question. As fans, we come into every season with grand expectations and aspirations, but that doesn’t mean they’re realistic. I’m sure that if you asked any Buff fan what a successful year would’ve looked like before the season started, they’d have said a bowl appearance. But maybe that’s about as crazy as hoping the Rockies would finish with the league’s lowest ERA — it’s just not happening.

If Buffs fans go into these next five weeks with the mentality that winning is everything, I can promise you that you’re going to have a very bad time. Nobody likes moral victories, but by the end of the season, that may be all we can hope for.

Am I happy that CU is on track to have yet another losing record? Of course not. But am I going to pretend like a 7-6 record and a bowl appearance were ever reasonable expectations? No.

For the final half of the season, success needs to come in the form of effort and fight. I don’t want to see this team give up. I want to see a team that’ll go down kicking and screaming.

If Colorado can pull out one more victory, I’ll be happy. If they can pull out two, I’ll be thoroughly impressed.

After all that Boulder has gone through this last decade, I just want to be able to enter next season with a little more hope than I had this season.