By Brenda June Temple

BOULDER – For the first time since 2010, a Big 12 Conference football schedule will include the Colorado Buffaloes, as the conference released its 2024 schedules on Tuesday.  In addition to a return to the Big 12, 2024 marks the second season the Buffs will take the field led by Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders.

This season the Buffs will play nine of 15 conference opponents, which can be essentially broken into four categories; three games against former Big Eight foes (Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State), two more against former Big 12 foes (Baylor, Texas Tech), two current Pac-12 teams joining the Buffs in the new Big 12 (Arizona, Utah) and two against first-time conference opponents (Central Florida, Cincinnati).

Times and television for the first three weeks plus any Friday games will be determined in late May or early June.

The non-conference schedule has been set for several years and includes the season opener on August 31 against North Dakota State followed by road games against CU’s two biggest rivals Nebraska (September 7) and Colorado State (September 14).

The Buffs and Bison will square off for the first time on the gridiron.  NDSU was 11-4 last season and advanced to the FCS Semifinals where they fell to Montana 31-29 in double overtime.

The last time CU played in both Lincoln and Fort Collins was in the 1996 season, which is also the last time CU played at Colorado State.  CU won its last trip to Lincoln, defeating the Huskers 33-28 in 2018 on a last-minute bomb from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault.  The Buffs have won three of the last six in Lincoln dating back to 2002 and nine overall at Memorial Stadium. CU owns a 23-7-1 record in Fort Collins, with 28 of those 31 games taking place before 1960, and CU has won four straight in Fort Collins dating back to the 1955 season.

The Big 12 season opener is a home game against Baylor on September 21 and then the Buffs close out the opening month with a trip to Central Florida on Sept. 28.  Colorado is 9-7 all-time against Baylor and 5-4 against the Bears in Boulder.  The Buffs and Knights have never met on the football field.

The first of two bye weeks happens on October 5 and then CU will play back-to-back Wildcats, first hosting Kansas State October 12 for the annual Homecoming game before traveling to Arizona on October 19.  CU will close out October with a home game against Cincinnati on Oct. 26, which will be Family Weekend.

This will be the 66th meeting between the Buffs and Kansas State and first since the 2010 season when the Buffs beat the Wildcats 44-36.  CU holds a 45-20-1 advantage in the series.  Against Arizona, CU holds a 16-10 advantage and the two have played every season since 2011, with Arizona topping the Buffs 34-31 in overtime this past season.  CU and Cincinnati have played just one time previously, with CU coming out on top 56-14 on September 16, 1972 in Boulder.

The final month of the regular season will begin with the second bye of the season on November 2 followed by a trip to Texas Tech on November 9.  After Utah visits Boulder on November 16, CU will head to Kansas on November 23 and then the regular season finale will be on Black Friday against Oklahoma state on November 29 in Boulder.  The day after Thanksgiving match-up marks the only week in which Friday games were selected by the Big 12’s television partners.

The Buffs and Red Raiders have played 10 times including seven times in Big 12 match-ups.  TTU won the most recent match-up 27-24 in 2010 and the Buffs won both home and away in 2006-07.  Utah has won six straight against the Buffs and lead the series 34-32-3.  The Buffs and Utes have played every season since 2011 but prior to that hadn’t played since 1962, but did meet 56 times prior to that season.

The Buffs and Jayhawks have played more than any other conference opponent with CU holding a 42-25-3 mark in the series including a 17-16-3 record in Lawrence.  The Buffs hold a 26-20-1 record over the Cowboys including a 13-8 mark in Boulder.  The two did meet in the 2016 Alamo Bowl, won 38-8 by the Cowboys, who have won three straight dating back to 2005.

The Big 12 previously released the home and road opponents for the next four years through 2027.  With 36 league games in those four years, the Buffs will play Arizona, Arizona State, Central Florida, Houston, Kansas State and Utah three times and Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia twice each over the first four-year iteration of the league schedule.

COURTESY COLORADO ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS