A Preview of the Rocky Mountain Showdown
The Colorado Buffaloes (5-7, 2-7 Pac-12 in 2018) open their 130th season of intercollegiate football this Friday, Aug. 31, against its in-state rival, the Colorado State Rams (3-9, 2-6 Mountain West) in an 8:10 p.m. kickoff at Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver
ESPN will televise the game nationally, it being the debut of CU’s 26th full-time head coach, Mel Tucker.
It will be the 91st game in the series, in which the Buffaloes lead the series by a 66-22-2 count, which includes a 12-6 edge in games played in Denver (all but three of the games dating back to 1998 have been in Denver; however, this is the final one as the 2020 game will be played in Fort Collins. The series will resume in 2023-24, with Boulder hosting in ’23 and back to Fort Collins for ‘24.)
Colorado’s opponents this year were a collective 80-72 a year ago, with six teams making the postseason with four winning nine or more games … Colorado enters 2019 with a 705-508-36 all-time record (a .579 winning percentage), as the Buffaloes are 25th all-time in the NCAA in wins and 36th in winning percentage; CU comes into the season on a seven-game losing streak … Top anniversaries for the CU program in 2019 include the 50th anniversary of the 1969 team that defeated Alabama, 47-33, in the Liberty Bowl; the 30th anniversary of CU’s 1989 Big Eight Conference championship team (and first-ever No. 1 ranking),and the 25th anniversary of the “The Miracle in Michigan” on Sept. 27, 1994.
After 10 consecutive years in Denver (19 overall), the Rams and Buffs will play the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver for the final time before the game moves to campus sites. CSU will host CU in Fort Collins next year, the first time the Buffs will visit Fort Collins since 1996.• CU holds a 12-6 advantage in the series in Denver. The Buffs are also on a four-game winning streak, the longest such streak since 1987-1998 (eight games)• As far as in-state rivalry games are concerned, the Rocky Mountain Showdown is the oldest rivalry game in the Football Bowl Subdivision (first played in 1893).
The Rams’ roster is made up of 36 players from the state of Colorado while CU’s roster features 29.
