Colorado is one of the better stories of the 2016 season. Before the year began, the Buffaloes were picked to finish in last place in the Pac-12 South Division, yet here they are in the first week of November, not only sitting alone at the top of the division, but ranked No. 15 in the first set of rankings from the College Football Playoff.

Now they'll have the national spotlight on them Thursday night when the welcome UCLA to Boulder for a Pac-12 South game.

Colorado Storyline: As mentioned above, if the season were to end right now, it would be Colorado playing for the Pac-12 title as the South Division winners. The Buffaloes are 6-1 overall, and 4-1 in conference play with their only loss coming against USC.

Colorado has been able to exceed expectations thanks in large part to a much-improved defense. In 2014, the Buffaloes were allowing 39 points per game, and that's when coach Mike MacIntyre decided to bring in Jim Leavitt to run the defense. The decision saw immediate dividends in 2015 when Colorado allowed only 27.5 points per game, and they've cut nearly another 10 points off that total this season, as they're giving up 18.1 points per game. There are only 12 schools in the country allowing less points per game.

That defense, combined with an above-average offense has Colorado in position to win its first Pac-12 title, and first conference title of any kind since it won the Big 12 in 2001.

UCLA Storyline: Much like Colorado, UCLA has been a surprise in 2016 as well, but for all the wrong reasons. The Bruins entered the season with a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Josh Rosen, and as one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 South. Instead, the Bruins are 3-5, have lost Rosen for the rest of the season, and are just trying to get to a bowl game.

If the Bruins do want to get to that bowl game, this is almost a must-win situation.

Pick: UCLA +11.5. While I'm not willing to go as far as predicting a UCLA upset in this game, I think this is a situation in which the Bruins will at least keep this game closer than expected. As I mentioned, this is practically a must-win situation for the Bruins, and they're talented enough to hang with Colorado for four quarters. Having said that, there's only one team left in the country that has a perfect record against the spread this season, and it's Colorado. I think that streak comes to an end this week, however, simply because Vegas and the gambling public have finally caught on to the fact Colorado is a good team, so there's a more realistic line in this game than there would have been only a few weeks ago.

UCLA at No. 15 Colorado, 9 p.m. ET, FS1
Line
Colorado -11.5