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Times listed in Mountain. Big 12 kickoff windows and networks are announced in-season.
Colorado Football Schedule 2026: Full Buffaloes Slate, Dates, and Key Games
Games That Will Decide Colorado’s Season
| Sept 5 at Georgia Tech | A revenge trip. Georgia Tech won 27-20 in Boulder last August, and the Buffs open the season in Atlanta looking to return the favor. |
| Sept 26 at Baylor | Colorado’s first trip to Waco since 2007. The last meeting was a 38-31 overtime thriller in Boulder in 2024; CU leads the all-time series 10-7. |
| Oct 3 vs Texas Tech | A College Football Playoff participant visits Folsom for the Big 12 home opener, immediately after Colorado’s three-road-game September. |
| Oct 17 vs Utah | Family Weekend against another 10-win team from last season, and a renewal of an old Pac-12 rivalry now played as a Big 12 game. |
Three September Road Games
The last time Colorado opened a year with three road games in the first month was 1974, when the Buffs traveled to LSU, Michigan, and Air Force.
Only One Bye
After two seasons with two mid-season byes since rejoining the Big 12, Colorado gets just one in 2026 — Oct 10, right after the Texas Tech game.
Evanston, After 75 Years
The Northwestern game is just the third meeting ever and the first in 48 years. CU’s last trip to Evanston was a 35-14 loss in 1951, and this is one of the first games in the rebuilt Ryan Field.
How the Schedule Sets Up
September is the problem. Georgia Tech on the road, Weber State as the lone breather, then back-to-back road trips to Northwestern and Baylor — the only consecutive away games on the entire schedule. Colorado could plausibly leave the month 3-1 or 1-3, and the difference shapes everything. October brings Texas Tech and Utah to Folsom around the single bye and a trip to Stillwater. November is more balanced: Kansas State at home, Arizona State on the road, Houston for Homecoming, Cincinnati away, and UCF to close. The Big 12’s conference slate staggers Colorado’s home and away games with no back-to-back road trips in league play, which is about as favorable a travel draw as the conference offers. For the postseason picture, here’s how the College Football Playoff works under the 12-team format. Conference scheduling across the NCAA FBS has trended toward deeper league slates in recent years.
The Bottom Line
Six home games, three road trips in the opening month for the first time since 1974, and a Folsom Field slate featuring Texas Tech, Utah, and Kansas State — Deion Sanders’ fourth Colorado schedule front-loads the travel and back-loads the winnable games. Bookmark this page; times, networks, and results are updated throughout the season.