For the Colorado football team to rebound from a disappointing 2025 season, it will have to navigate a challenging start to the 2026 schedule.
On Wednesday, the Big 12 Conference announced the schedule for this year. For CU and head coach Deion Sanders, entering his fourth season with the Buffs, that includes three September road trips and eight matchups with teams that were bowl eligible in 2025.
CU will open Big 12 play with a trip to re-tooled Baylor, followed by back-to-back home dates with two of the top teams in the conference, Texas Tech and Utah.
Prior to Big 12 games, the Buffs will have three nonconference matchups. Those games have been set for several years. The Buffs also already knew their conference opponents, but Wednesday set the dates for the entire slate. Game times and TV selections will be announced at a later date.
The Buffs will open their season Sept. 5 at Georgia Tech, which went 9-4 and finished just outside of the Associated Press Top 25 this season. It will complete a home-and-home set, after the Yellow Jackets beat the Buffs, 27-20, at Folsom Field on Aug. 29.
CU will host Weber State (4-8 in 2025) in its home opener Sept.12. It’ll be the first-ever meeting between the Buffs and Weber State, a member of the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision.
A week later, on Sept. 19, the Buffs will complete nonconference play with a trip to Northwestern. The Wildcats (7-6) will move back into Ryan Field in the fall after an $800 million renovation project. They have played the past two years in a temporary stadium. CU will make just its second ever trip to Evanston, Illinois, and first since a 35-14 loss on Sept. 29, 1951. CU won the only other matchup, 55-7 in Boulder on Sept. 30, 1978.
During Big 12 play, the Buffs will have five home games, against Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas State, Houston and Central Florida. There will be road trips to Baylor, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Cincinnati.
CU visits Baylor on Sept. 26. The Bears (5-7) have added 27 players in the transfer portal so far. The Buffs are 10-7 all-time against the Bears and will make their first trip to Waco, Texas, since Oct. 6, 2007. It will be CU’s first game at McLane Stadium, which opened in 2014.
Fresh off a Big 12 title and trip to the College Football Playoff, Texas Tech (12-2, No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll) will visit Boulder on Oct. 3, playing in Folsom Field for the first time since Oct. 23, 2010.
Following a bye, the Buffs will host Utah on Oct. 17. The Utes (11-2, No. 14 AP poll) will have a new head coach, Morgan Scalley, after longtime coach Kyle Whittingham went to Michigan.
CU will visit Oklahoma State (1-11) on Oct. 24, its first trip to Stillwater since 2009. Thatap followed by a home date with Kansas State (6-6) on Oct. 31 to wrap up October. Both teams will be led by first-year head coaches.
The final month of the schedule begins with a trip to Arizona State (8-5) on Nov. 7. The Sun Devils, which won the Big 12 in 2024, routed the Buffs, 42-17, at Folsom Field on Nov. 22. The Buffs have won two of their last three games in Tempe.
Houston (10-3, No. 22) visits Folsom Field on Nov. 14, making its first-ever appearance in Boulder. The Buffs lost at Houston, 36-20, on Sept. 12.
On Nov. 21, CU will visit Cincinnati (7-6) for the first time. The two teams have met twice before, including the Buffs’ 34-23 win in Boulder on Oct. 26, 2024.
The Buffaloes’ regular season concludes Nov. 28 at Folsom Field against Central Florida. The Knights (5-7) will make their first-ever trip to Boulder. The teams have met just once before, in CU’s 48-21 win in Orlando on Sept. 28, 2024.
