Our first deep dive into the Colorado Buffaloes’ return to the Big 12 Conference brought us a familiar face, but even a return home can feature new furniture in this age of college football realignment. On Sept. 28, the Buffs will travel to Orlando, Florida, to face the UCF Knights for the first time in program history.
UCF joined the Big 12 in 2023, expanding the conference’s footprint into Florida for the first time. The Knights had spent the previous 10 seasons dominating the American Athletic Conference, posting eight winning seasons, including four seasons with at least 10 wins. Their run reached its peak in 2017 when UCF went 13-0 with a win over the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl. UCF had an up-and-down first season in the Big 12, going 6-7 and making a bowl game before losing to Georgia Tech, 30-17.
Colorado and UCF have each reloaded this offseason with impressive overall recruiting classes (transfers and high school signees included). In 247Sports’ overall recruiting class rankings, CU is currently No. 1 in the Big 12 and the Knights are close behind at No. 3.
Colorado’s first trip to Orlando should be a memorable one as both teams will be looking to make noise in the new-look Big 12.
Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.