Former football coach-turned-broadcast analyst Bob Davie has been assigned to four of the 28 bowl games -- including the Champs Sports Bowl with the University of Colorado and Clemson on Tuesday in Orlando, Fla.

Davie believes the Buffaloes' mindset has to be one of pride against Clemson.

"If I'm (acting head coach) Mike Hankwitz right now and I'm getting up in front of that team, the first thing I say is, this is a tremendous opportunity to prove that we are not the team that people saw the last three weeks, the last three times we played," Davie said. "We have a chance to prove we are a better football team. It is all about pride -- don't underestimate the pride element in this, with each kid going out there and playing his rear-end off because of pride in himself.

"If you're a player -- whether it's your last game and the NFL is watching, or it's the first time (new CU coach) Dan Hawkins actually is going to watch you play. More important, just your own pride . . . don't underestimate the motivation level for Colorado.

"With that said, the only way it could break down is if they get behind by a significant margin. Then it's easy to cave in . . . in some ways, I may be worried about motivation if I'm (Clemson coach) Tommy Bowden. The Nebraska game and Texas game were such visible games -- nationally-televised games. To get beat as badly as Colorado did in those two games, if you're Tommy Bowden you've got a little bit of job motivating your football team from the standpoint of taking Colorado seriously."

NOTEWORTHY

› Davie, who last coached at Notre Dame, said he's content in his role as an analyst. But he still has a coaching itch to scratch. "I enjoy what I'm doing right now, completely," he said. "To be honest, the feedback has pretty good. I've kind of emersed myself in this, and have taken it pretty seriously. But I would coach again in a second if it were the right situation. But I'm not sitting here every day hoping some guy gets fired so maybe I could go after that job, or I'm not looking every day in transactions and saying, 'Boy, I'm only going to be happy if I coach again.' I really don't know what the future holds."

› Metro State and Colorado School of Mines are co-hosts of the New Year's Classic men's basketball tournament this week. On Dec. 29 at Auraria Events Center, Mines plays the University of Mary (N.D.) at 5 p.m., followed by Metro State vs. North Dakota. On Dec. 30 at Volk Gymnasium in Golden, Metro plays U. of Mary (5 p.m.), followed by Mines vs. North Dakota.