If I try to take off my Buff hat and look at things dispassionately for 2015, here's what I know when comparing likely results to what was experienced in 2014:
1. CU lost no skill position starters from the offense and 2 OLs who have capable replacements.
2. CU lost almost nothing from the defense other than needing to replace a 4-year starter at cornerback.
3. CU lost its punter and kicker, which should downgrade special teams performance.
4. CU brought in 3 JUCO DLs, and a JUCO DB while having several key players returning on defense from injury or suspension.
5. CU players are now in their 3rd year in the program with a junior-dominated team, which usually points to success.
6. The 2014 season had CU facing a lot of senior or NFL-prospect quarterbacks, which is very challenging. 2015 sees CSU, UMass, ASU, OSU, UCLA, Washington State and Oregon all replacing these types of QBs with USC loaded at the position, Arizona, Stanford and Utah having non-NFL prospect vets who are capable of big games, and Hawai'i an unknown.
7. From a scheduling standpoint, many of the most winnable games are on the road (Hawai'i opener, Oregon State, Washington State, Utah) while the home slate of conference games is brutal (Oregon, Arizona, Stanford, USC) and it's an unbalanced year with 5/9 Pac-12 games on the road.
Things set up from a roster and competition standpoint for CU to make a move. From a scheduling standpoint, there are serious challenges. The first 4 games likely decide the season with a tough road trip to Hawai'i in the opener, a neutral site game against rival CSU and two home games against UMass and Nicholls State that should be wins. There's also no bye week in this 13-game schedule, so staying healthy is vital. If I was an outsider looking in, I wouldn't trust CU to do better than 3-1 in the non-conference. I would also say that the over-under on Pac-12 wins would be 1.5 in 2015. So I'd predict a season in the 4-9 or 5-8 range. Below that would point to a bad coaching job, above that a good coaching job.
The program is desperately in need of a good coaching job, really good. Like, 2.5 above the over-under I set at 4.5 wins to deliver 7-6 and a bowl game. For that to happen, CU almost certainly needs to go 4-0 in the non-conference, find a way to win 1 or 2 of its conference home games, and then find a way to win 1 or 2 conference road games to improve from 0-9 to 3-6 in Pac-12 play. Not unreasonable given expected improvements and a much less brutal slate of opposing QBs, but also an upside prediction.