Category: History

A quick history of the Rocky Mountain Showdown

Can the Buffs continue their dominance over the Rams?

In my breakdown of Colorado football’s history against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, I had to mention a not-so-fun 39-year period that Buffs fans had to endure. Because it hurt me to write about CU’s struggles against the Huskers, let’s look at a different 39 games. Since 1953, the Buffaloes are 29-10 against in-state rival Colorado State.

While some CU fans will bristle at using the word “rival” when it comes to our friends in Fort Collins, there’s no denying that CSU has been and always will be a despised opponent. It’s undeniable that Colorado has dominated the Rocky Mountain Showdown since its inception. The Buffs sport a 68-22-2 all-time mark against the Rams going back to the series’ first game in 1893.

The Buffaloes will roll into Fort Collins on Sept. 14 riding a six-game winning streak aided by a double-overtime thriller at Folsom Field last season. Will the Rams get payback at Canvas Stadium or will the Buffaloes continue their dominance?

Check out the TV broadcast from the last time Colorado faced the Rams in Fort Collins:

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Examining Colorado football’s lengthy history with Utah

The Big 12 marks the fourth conference Colorado and Utah have shared

The Utah Utes represent a great “what if” regarding the history of the Colorado Buffaloes. While Utah and CU were tabbed as rivals when they joined the Pac-12 together in 2011, it never took hold quite like the Buffs’ beef with the Colorado State Rams and Nebraska Cornhuskers. But if things had gone differently, Colorado could have viewed Utah with a similar disdain.

Colorado football historians can tell you that the Buffs and Utes were once conference foes long before they joined the Pac-12. The teams shared two conferences before that, and their game history stretches back to the early 1900s. CU played Utah six times as nonconference opponents from 1903 to 1908, with the Buffs winning four of those games.

Starting in 1910 and ending in 1947, Colorado and Utah faced off as conference rivals, first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and then in the Mountain States Conference. Even though CU moved on to the Big 7 in 1948, the teams continued to play each other annually until 1962.

The teams would not meet again until 2011 when both joined the Pac-12. During those Pac-12 years, Utah dominated to an 11-2 record to bring the overall series standings to 35-32-3 in favor of the Utes. Will the move to the Big 12 turn the tides back in CU’s favor?

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Breaking down Colorado’s history against Texas Tech

The 11th all-time meeting between Colorado and Texas Tech should be a fun one

I was excited when it was first announced that the Colorado Buffaloes would be headed home to the Big 12, a conference the team had called home for more than 60 years before leaving for the Pac-12. This was mainly because CU would again face off with some old rivals.

Texas Tech was not one of the first teams I thought of, but based on how the Red Raiders have played in recent years, we should be in for some exciting matchups.

Though the teams were previously in the Big 12 together for 15 seasons, CU and Texas Tech only played seven times as conference foes, with the Buffaloes holding a slight 4-3 edge in the win column. Add in the 1-2 record Colorado had against the Red Raiders in nonconference games pre-1996, and these two teams have played to a 5-5 draw thus far through 10 games. That means this year’s Nov. 9 matchup in Lubbock represents a chance for one of these teams to gain a slight edge.

Will Colorado continue to win when the games are played in a conference format? Or will Texas Tech gain a leg up in the series history?

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Remembering Colorado football’s last matchup with Cincinnati

Colorado and Cincinnati met over 50 years ago at Folsom Field

You’ll have to stretch your memory to remember the last time the Colorado Buffaloes matched up with the Cincinnati Bearcats. That will soon change, however, now that the two teams share a conference in the Big 12.

The only other time Colorado and Cincinnati met was in 1972. Colorado was coming off a 10-2 campaign in 1971 that saw the Buffs finish at No. 3 in the final AP Poll. Head coach Eddie Crowder’s team was ranked No. 2 when the Bearcats rolled into Folsom Field on Sept. 16, 1972. The Buffaloes rolled past Cincinnati that day by a final score of 56-14.

That 1972 season had its ups and downs for the Buffs as they would finish the year at 8-4. The highlight of that season came on Oct. 21 when the No. 9 Buffs upset the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, 20-14.

Cincinnati struggled in its first Big 12 season last fall, and while I don’t expect another 56-14 score, the Buffs should be heavy favorites when they host the Bearcats on Oct. 26.

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Examining Colorado football’s history against the Arizona Wildcats

After over a decade together in the Pac-12, Colorado and Arizona will soon meet as Big 12 foes

The Big 12 Conference matchup between the Colorado Buffaloes and Arizona Wildcats on Oct. 19 will be intriguing. It will mark the first time a former Pac-12 rival will face the Buffaloes in the Big 12.

Overall, the all-time series record between the two teams stands at 16-10 in CU’s favor, but the rivalry between the Buffs and the Wildcats has been a streaky one. The teams played 14 times between 1931 and 2011, and Colorado won 13 of those games, including a 2011 game that represented CU’s first Pac-12 Conference victory.

Since then, Arizona has taken advantage of the Buffaloes’ poor performance in the Pac-12. The Wildcats went 9-3 while playing the Buffs every season from 2012 to 2023. Thirty seems to be the magic number in the series; CU was 3-0 in those games when Arizona scored less than 30 points and 0-9 when the Wildcats eclipsed that mark.

In a surprising turn, Colorado is 2-1 in its last three games in Tucson, meaning the Buffs have fared better on the road in recent years than at home when facing the Wildcats. We’ll see if that trend continues this year in Tucson.

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Looking back at Colorado’s history against Kansas State

A longtime rivalry will soon resume

After looking back at the relatively light history of the Colorado Buffaloes playing the Baylor Bears and UCF Knights, it’s now time to bring on one of CU’s biggest rivals: the Kansas State Wildcats.

Kansas State was an early member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which later became the Big Seven when Colorado joined in 1947. The two teams played annually from 1948 to 2010.

The Buffaloes have played well in their matchups with the Wildcats, holding an all-time record of 45-20-1. CU holds two extended winning streaks, stealing 10 straight from 1954-63 and eight straight from 1985-92.

While Colorado holds the overall advantage, KSU has held its own in recent matchups. From 1997 to 2010, the Wildcats won eight of the 14 games by an average of about 17 points.

This year’s matchup on Oct. 12 in Boulder will represent the first time these foes have faced off since Colorado left for the Pac-12 in 2010.

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Looking back at Colorado’s history against Baylor

This summer, we’ll be looking at Colorado’s history against each team in the new-look Big 12. First up: Baylor.

The Colorado Buffaloes have completed their last season in the Pac-12 and will triumphantly return to the Big 12 Conference in 2024. We are looking back to mark the occasion and see how CU football has fared against its former Big 12 rivals. First up on the Buffs’ Big 12 slate next season is the Baylor Bears.

Colorado joined the Big Seven in 1947 and stuck around when the conference expanded into the Big 12 with the addition of Baylor and three other schools. CU had played Baylor out of conference a handful of times, going 5-4 before meeting as Big 12 foes for the first time in 1998.

The Buffaloes dominated their early Big 12 matchups with Baylor, winning the first three games by a combined score of 89-16. However, CU has struggled as of late against the Bears, who have won three of the last four matchups.

All time, the Buffaloes own a slight 9-7 advantage over Baylor in 16 matchups.

Colorado will look to take further control of the series when the teams meet on Sept. 21 in Boulder.

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Former Lions athletic trainer earns honor from Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former Lions athletic trainer Dean Kleinschmidt earns honor from Pro Football Hall of Fame

On Wednesday afternoon the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its Award of Excellence winners, and former Detroit Lions athletic trainer Dean Kleinschmidt is one of the recipients.

The Award of Excellence, first handed out in 2022, goes to assistant coaches, athletic trainers, equipment managers, film and video directors and public relations directors. The Hall does not participate in the nomination or voting process.

Kleinschmidt served as the Lions head athletic trainer from 2007 to 2014. Over that time he helped a lot of key players on the team stay on the field while also extending their careers. The prime years of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson saw them take some brutal hits, but the trainers department always took care of them and they helped usher in a new era of Lions football.

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Kleinschmidt’s career was more than just Detroit, however — it spanned 40 years in the NFL. In a league that jokingly is referred to as Not For Long, Kleinschmidt had a lasting career and is a deserving recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Arkansas basketball great was selected to this year’s class of SEC’s Legends

Arkansas great will be honored during halftime of the Razorback’s first SEC Tournament game

The SEC announced Wednesday that former Hogs power forward Derek Hood will be this year’s SEC Legends section for Arkansas.

Each of the 14 schools in the conference will have a representative at the SEC Tournament. The members will be recognized during halftime of their respective school’s first game.

Hood is the all-time second-leading rebound in Arkansas history, averaging 7.6 rebounds a game. His 1,002 boards ranks behind only Sidney Moncrief’s 1,015.

He was also a decent scorer, averaging 9.5 points a game and scoring 1,247 points as a Razorback. Hood’s scoring abilities peaked at Arkansas his senior year where he averaged 12.4 points a game, with an SEC-best 10.3 boards. He also led the conference in shooting percentage with 56.5% from the floor.

The aforementioned Moncrief and Hood are the only players in Arkansas history with more than 1,000 points and rebounds.

The 6ft-8 forward played at Arkansas between 1995 and 1999, starting 122 out of 131 games. He led the Hogs to 3 NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996, -97, and -98, and a NIT Final Four in 1997.

The SEC Tournament will be held March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Here is the list of Legend set to be recognized:

Alabama – Richard Hendrix

Arkansas – Derek Hood

Auburn – Cliff Ellis

Florida – Taurean Green

Georgia – Rashad Wright

Kentucky – Orlando “Tubby” Smith

LSU – Darrel Mitchell

Ole Miss – Dwayne Curtis

Mississippi State – Timmy Bowers

Missouri – Willie Smith

South Carolina – Joe Rhett

Tennessee – Chris Lofton

Texas A&M – Elston Turner

Vanderbilt – Frank Seckar

Every former CU Buffs player to win a Super Bowl

How many Super Bowl-winning Buffs can you name?

Very few who’ve ever played the game of football know what it’s like to win a Super Bowl. For most college players, it may not be at the forefront of their minds, but securing the Lombardi Trophy remains the sport’s crowning team achievement.

As you’ll see below, the Colorado Buffaloes are in a bit of a drought when it comes to former players winning the NFL’s biggest game. Regardless, the history is rich and many legendary Buffs have contributed to championship-winning teams.

Not including former CU players who’ve won as coaches, below is a list of every former Buff to win a Super Bowl (h/t CUBuffs.com):