Fallout from the Colorado football team’s loss at Baylor could stretch much farther than simply the humiliation of losing to one of the nation’s worst programs.

Worst-case scenario?

If the football team does not reverse its fortunes in a hurry — and that means turning it around this week against Kansas University — the repercussions will be felt throughout the athletic department.

The problem?

Dick Tharp and the Gang on the Hill mortgaged CU’s future when they built the luxury suite and club seat expansion at Folsom Field. Now they might not be able to make good on the payments — and the university could be left to make up the difference.

Despite signs that it was not a sound idea, CU officials forged ahead with their plans to build additional seats, even though CU games are rarely sold out. They also ignored a tanking economy, and refused to acknowledge that interest in college sports in this state has always been a tough sell.

It was, in the kindest of terms, a questionable business decision, one that someone in the private sector never would have attempted.

But, desperate to produce revenue — and unable to generate it through conventional fund-raising means — they built the structure, even though they didn’t have the money. Instead, they convinced CU President Betsy Hoffman to finance the project from the university’s general fund — and now, Buffalo Betsy’s on the hook as well.

The issue?

CU currently has a facility that is barely half-full, making it a break-even proposition at best. Meanwhile, CU is looking at the prospect of trying to sell more of those suites and club seats for a program that has all the appearances of finding itself in a serious downward spiral.

What is already clear is that the club seats, which CU priced at $2,250 per seat, are grossly overpriced. Oklahoma charges $1,500 for its most expensive club seat.

CU officials can’t, however, reduce the price — unless they want to anger those folks who have already purchased seats, or refund their money. So, they have to sell more seats — something that won’t be easy if the football team isn’t a consistent winner (that means never, EVER losing to Baylor).

The math is simple.

If they can’t increase ticket sales, they can’t generate revenue. And if they can’t generate revenue, every other program at Colorado will continue to suffer.

It means Tharp’s grandiose plan of an indoor practice facility is nothing more than a pipe dream (unless he can once again convince Buffalo Betsy to pony up more cash).

It also means that CU’s facilities for its other athletes will continue to be among the worst in the Big 12 Conference. It means tennis practices at 10 p.m. at a facility an hour away from Boulder. It means no rest room facilities at the track for the athletes. It means a top-20 soccer team playing on a city-owned facility with no seating for fans.

And it all hinges on a football team that just lost to Baylor, a program that even in its wildest imagination cannot be construed as being among the nation’s elite.

The athletic department has mortgaged its future — literally and figuratively — on Gary Barnett’s team.

The next step for the athletic department?

CU officials must focus their efforts on making sure this type of slide never happens again — even if it comes to Hoffman stepping in and exerting her power. Otherwise, Hoffman loses all accountability in her continuing battle with the state legislature.