Summer Schedule Preview: Colorado is Back (in the Big 12)

Oklahoma State will finish off its regular season against the Big 12’s prodigal program.

The Cowboys will head to Boulder to face Colorado for their 2024 season finale. While their matchup with the Buffaloes is slotted for an 11 a.m. kick Friday on ABC, the coaching matchup is Primetime. (That’s the last pun, I promise.)

As we put a bow on our Summer Schedule Series, be sure you catch up on any you missed: Noncon | Utah | K-State | West Virginia | BYU | Baylor | TCU | Texas Tech

Week 14: Colorado | Nov. 29 | Boulder, Colorado

Series History: 20-26-1

Though the Pokes are still behind in the series historically, OSU has won the last three meetings against CU. With the former Big 8/Big 12 foes coming back into the fold, we can restart the in-conference record between the two. It currently sits at 19-24-1.

Last Meeting: OSU 38, Colorado 8 (2016 Alamo Bowl)

Behind its emerging Big 3 of Mason Rudolph, James Washington and Justice Hill, OSU routed Colorado 38-8, tamping down any incoming hyperbole about the Buffaloes’ vaunted secondary. Rudolph threw for 314 yards and three scores, and Washington capped his All-Big 12 season with 171 yards and a TD on nine catches. Hill added 107 yards and a score of his own.

Colorado in 2023: The hype was real, until it wasn’t?

Colorado did, in fact, race off to a 3-0 start with wins over TCU, fresh off its national championship game appearance, and Nebraska. But, as we learned, that TCU team was not the same one that beat Michigan in the CFP, and neither of those two made a bowl game. But there were still plenty to be excited about. Shedeur Sanders did, for instance, throw for 500-plus yards and a four TDs in his FBS debut against the Horned Frogs.

The Buffs were humbled by No. 6 Oregon, which cracked the seal on a 1-8 demolishment of a Pac-12 finish. Their only conference win came against Arizona State, by three points. CU was burning hype as fuel when it needed experience, cohesion and infrastructure. We’ll see if they’ve chucked enough of that in the furnace ahead of Year 2.

Colorado in 2024: The Buffaloes do have talent.

Head coach Deion Sanders brought in 24 new transfers to bolster his roster and boasts the No. 5 transfer class in the country (top in the Big 12). How well he can fold in that new talent to a program that hasn’t had a winning culture since long before he arrived will be the true test of his coaching ability.

Of Note: Prime gets the spotlight, but CU’s been down for a long time.

As much as those who rolled their eyes at the early 2023 coverage enjoyed the collapse of late 2023, Sanders at least brought something to the program. To check in on how the Buffs have been doing since they left to graze in Pac-12 pastures, here’s an oof number.

Two: That’s how many bowl games Colorado has been to since it left the Big 12 in 2012 — the 2016 Alamo Bowl and the 2020 Alamo Bowl (a year the Buffs finished 4-2). Maybe you’ve heard of it. In fact, its postseason drought extended all the way back to 2007. Colorado has had just two winning seasons since 2005 and averaged less than four wins per year in the five years leading up to Coach Prime taking the reins.

Also, since 2010, Colorado has half as many double-digit loss seasons (four) as OSU has double-digit win seasons (eight). So the Buffaloes haven’t been good at football since I graduated high school. I won’t age myself, but I’ll give you a hint: Deion was still in the NFL.

A Black Friday Deal?

When it comes to this season — as we forecast it in July/August — these two teams project to be in different boats come Thanksgiving weekend. The Cowboys, picked third in the league, figure to be the most consistent team with the most returning talent. If they aren’t still in the mix for a trip to Arlington and more by this time, fans will be let down. While we probably shouldn’t gauge expectations on the whim of CU fans at this point, realistically, the Buffaloes could be in the hunt for a bowl game berth or better on Senior Day.

If nothing else, it will be the reunion for a couple of conference foes, injecting a little bit of nostalgia that’s been bleed from college football over the last couple of years of conference realignment and dissolving. And it will give you an excuse to avoid the malls on Black Friday.