Colorado Buffaloes football


The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level, and is a member of the Big 12 Conference.
The team was a charter member of the Big 12 before leaving to join the Pac-12 Conference after the 2010 season. After 13 seasons in the Pac-12, the team returned to the Big 12 in 2024. Before joining the Big 12, they were members of the Big Eight Conference.
The team has played at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado since 1924. Their all-time record is 735–556–36 as of the 2025 season. Colorado won the 1990 National Championship that was shared by Georgia Tech. The team is 27th on the all-time win list and 40th in all-time winning percentage, along with two Heisman Trophy winners, Rashaan Salaam in 1994 and Travis Hunter in 2024.

History

Beginning in 1890, the Buffaloes have appeared in 29 bowl games, and won 27 conference championships, 5 division championships and an AP national championship in 1990.
Folsom Field was built in 1924, and since then, Colorado has a 308–169–14 record at home through the 2016 season. The road game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on November 24, 2006, was Colorado's 1,100th football game. The game on September 12, 2015, against Massachusetts was the school's 1,200th football game. In 1994, the Buffaloes had their first Heisman winner, being Rashaan Salaam. Then 20 years later, Travis Hunter became their second Heisman winner. Being famous for playing both ways. At WR and CB. Being the first defensive player to win the award since Charles Woodson.

Conference affiliations

National championships

Colorado won one national championship in football for 1990.
1990AP, Berryman, Billingsley, DeVold, FACT, FB News, Football Research, FW, Matthews, NCF, NFF, Sporting News, USA/CNN11–1–1OrangeNo. 1No. 2

;1990 season
Colorado won the national championship in 1990 under the direction of head coach Bill McCartney, who helmed the team from 1982 to 1994. While the Georgia Tech won the United Press International Coaches Poll, Colorado won the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America and other polls. Colorado played the most difficult schedule in the country, beat more ranked teams and conference champions. Colorado capped the season with a 10–9 win over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, a rematch of the 1989 season Orange Bowl Game which Notre Dame won 21–6. Colorado's tie came against Tennessee, who was ranked No. 8, the first week of the season when Colorado was ranked No. 5. The second week gave the Buffs a scare, scoring with 12 seconds left in the game on a 4th and Goal attempt. The next week gave Colorado its only loss of the season, losing 23–22 to Illinois and dropping Colorado to No. 20 in the polls. Colorado then went on to beat teams ranked No. 22 Texas, No. 12 Washington, No. 22 Oklahoma, and No. 3 Nebraska. They ended the season 7–0 in the Big Eight Conference for the second straight season. They then capped the season with a win over Notre Dame who were number 1 until a loss in their second to last game of the regular season.

Conference championships

Colorado has won 26 conference championships in over a century of college play, spanning through five conferences.
1894Colorado Football AssociationHarry Heller8–15–0
1895Colorado Football AssociationFred Folsom5–13–0
1896Colorado Football AssociationFred Folsom5–02–0
1897Colorado Football AssociationFred Folsom7–12–0
1901Colorado Football AssociationFred Folsom5–1–12–0
1902Colorado Football AssociationFred Folsom5–14–0
1903Colorado Football AssociationDave Cropp8–24–0
1909Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceFred Folsom6–03–0
1910Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceFred Folsom6–03–0
1911Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceFred Folsom6–04–0
1913Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceFred Folsom5–1–13–0–1
1923Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceMyron E. Witham9–07–0
1924Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceMyron E. Witham8–1–15–0–1
1934Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceBill Saunders6–1–26–1
1935Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceBunny Oakes5–45–1
1937Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceBunny Oakes8–17–0
1939Mountain States ConferenceBunny Oakes5–35–1
1942Mountain States ConferenceJames J. Yeager7–25–1
1943Mountain States ConferenceJames J. Yeager5–22–0
1944Mountain States ConferenceFrank Potts6–22–0
1961Big Eight ConferenceSonny Grandelius9–27–0
1976†Big Eight ConferenceBill Mallory8–45–2
1989Big Eight ConferenceBill McCartney11–17–0
1990Big Eight ConferenceBill McCartney11–1–17–0
1991†Big Eight ConferenceBill McCartney8–3–16–0–1
2001Big 12 ConferenceGary Barnett10–37–1

† Co-champions

Division championships

† Co-champions

Head coaches

The Buffaloes have played in 1,109 games during their 125 seasons, through 2014. In those seasons, 11 coaches have led Colorado to postseason bowl games: Bunny Oakes, Dallas Ward, Marcel M. Mazur, Bud Davis, Eddie Crowder, Bill Mallory, Bill McCartney, Rick Neuheisel, Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins, Mike MacIntyre and Karl Dorrell. Ten coaches have won conference championships with the Buffaloes: Fred Folsom, Myron Witham, William Saunders, Oakes, Jim Yeager, Sonny Grandelius, Mallory, McCartney and Barnett. The Buffaloes won the national championship in 1990, and have won a total of 28 conference championships.
McCartney is the all-time leader in games coached with 153, total wins with 93, and conference wins with 58. Folsom had the longest tenure as head coach, remaining in the position for 15 seasons. Harry Heller and Willis Keinholtz are tied for the highest overall winning percentage. Each served a single season and won eight of his nine games for a winning percentage of.889. Of coaches who served more than one season, Folsom leads with a.765 winning percentage. Davis, in terms of overall winning percentage, is the worst coach the Buffaloes have had with a.200 winning percentage. No Colorado coach has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, although McCartney was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 1996.
Mike MacIntyre had brief success with the program. Hired on Dec. 10, 2012, MacIntyre compiled a 30–44 record over five-plus seasons at Colorado. In 2016, MacIntyre lead Colorado to a 10–2 regular season and a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game. It was the first winning season for Colorado since 2005, ending a 10-year streak of finishing below.500. 2016 was also the best season for the Buffaloes since 2001. As well, it marked their first time playing in a conference championship game since the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game. The team also went 8–2 in the Pac-12 after having five conference wins in the previous five seasons. Mike MacIntyre was named the Walter Camp 2016 Coach of the Year by the Walter Camp Foundation, the second Colorado football coach to earn the honor. MacIntyre was also awarded the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, American Football Coaches Association's coach of the year and comeback coach of the year awards, the Associated Press coach of the year, and the Eddie Robinson coach of the year by the Football Writers Association of America. In 2018, the Buffaloes started out the season 5–0 with wins against rivals Colorado State, Nebraska, Arizona State, and UCLA - however, MacIntyre was fired as the head coach on November 18, 2018, after a six-game losing streak.
Mike Sanford was named interim Head Coach after Karl Dorrell was fired during the 2022 season, Sanford was previously the Buffaloes Offensive Coordinator for the start of the 2022 campaign. On December 3, Colorado announced Deion Sanders as Head Football Coach.

Venues

Nebraska

A traditional college football rivalry with the Nebraska Cornhuskers restarted in the 1980s when Bill McCartney declared the conference opponent to be their rival. His theory was since Nebraska was such a powerhouse team, if Colorado was able to beat them then they would be a good team. Colorado began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s, following their win over the Huskers in 1986, and then surpassed the Huskers for the Big 8 crown in 1989.
In 1990, Colorado beat Nebraska 27–12 in Lincoln for the first time since 1967, en route to their first national title. From 1996 to 2000, the series was extremely competitive, with the margin of victory by NU in those five years being only 15 points combined. The rivalry was further buoyed by the introduction of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, which moved Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the southern division with the four new schools from Texas, formerly in the Southwest Conference. Nebraska had traditionally finished the Big 8 conference schedule with a rivalry game with Oklahoma, but the two were now in different divisions, which meant they met every other year in the regular season. Colorado replaced Oklahoma as Nebraska's final conference game of the regular season, which further intensified the rivalry. In 2001 No. 1 Nebraska came to Folsom Field undefeated and left at the short end of a nationally televised 62–36 blowout. Both teams departed the Big 12 in 2011, as NU headed east to join the Big Ten and the future of the rivalry was in doubt. On February 7, 2013, Colorado and Nebraska agreed to renew the rivalry. Colorado traveled to Lincoln in 2018 and won 33–28. On September 7, 2019, Colorado mounted an improbable comeback after being down 17–0 at half, to win the game in overtime, 34–31. After a 3-year break, Nebraska lost 36–14 to Colorado in Boulder in 2023, but then won against Colorado 28-10 in 2024. Nebraska leads the series 50–21–2 through the 2024 season.