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Colorado’s schedule in 2024 is brutally unforgiving
The Colorado Buffaloes are stepping into the great unknown during the 2024 football season. After deciding to return to the Big XII, the Buffs will face off against some new faces and old foes this fall. Colorado’s schedule for next season is interesting, but how difficult is it?
In short, pretty damn difficult. There will be no easy wins or tune-up games. All of the Buffs’ opponents are very formidable and should give Deion and company a challenge. At the same time, there isn’t a game that the Buffs have no chance of winning.
Let’s break down all of Colorado's opponents for next season and rank them based on how difficult it’ll be to beat them:
12: North Dakota State at home (Week 1)
For those new to college football, this game probably seems like an easy win. We’re playing an FCS team from North Dakota to open our season at home. That should be a piece of cake, right?
That unfortunately couldn’t be further from the truth. NDSU is a well-oiled machine in the FCS scene, having won nine national championships since 2010. The Bison are 9-4 against FBS teams, so they’re accustomed to pulling off some impressive upsets. If the Buffs aren’t careful, losing to NDSU could certainly happen.
The good news for Colorado is that NDSU is in flux. Head coach Matt Entz left to take a job coaching linebackers at USC following the 2023 season, leaving first-year coach Tim Polasek to start his head coaching career at Folsom Field. The Buffs should win this game, but it’s not a given.
11: Cincinnati at home (Week 9)
The Bearcats didn’t look too great after making the jump back to a power conference last season. Cincy went 3-9 and only won a single conference game in 2023. With a year in the Big XII under their belt, the Bearcats and head coach Scott Satterfield are looking to bounce back in 2024.
Fortunately for Colorado, the Bearcats still don’t have a starting QB locked down and their defense was atrocious last season. The Buffs match up well with Cincy, so we should expect them to win this one.
10: Baylor at home (Week 4)
This will be Colorado’s first conference game since re-joining the Big XII. Thankfully, it’ll probably be one of their easiest games of 2024. The Bears have struggled since winning the Big XII in 2021 and head coach Dave Aranda’s seat is getting scorching hot.
On paper, Colorado’s roster is better than Baylor’s. The high-end talent of Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and practically all of the Buffs’ receiver corps should be enough to torch a less-than-good Bears defense. Anything can happen though, as Colorado fans have become well accustomed to.
9: Colorado State in Fort Collins (Week 2)
Talent-wise, the Buffs are better and deeper than the Rams. CU beats CSU in most categories, but the environment is going to be what makes this game difficult. For the first time since 1996, the Buffs will have to play in the snake pit that is Fort Collins.
Some serious hatred started brewing between these two squads after last year’s game. The head coaches don’t like each other. The players don’t like each other. The fanbases don’t like each other. Coach Prime and the Buffs will have to play in one of the most hostile environments imaginable and we’ll have to see how they handle the adversity.
8: UCF in Orlando (Week 5)
Here is where the difficulty takes a jump up.
The Knights managed to make a bowl last season but struggled with their conference slate, going only 3-6 against Big XII opponents. Head coach Gus Malzahn managed to snag Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson to bolster one of the conference’s best offenses.
UCF struggled to keep points off the board last season, so Colorado’s matchup with them in Orlando could turn into a shootout. Hopefully, Shedeur and company are up for the challenge.
7: Texas Tech in Lubbock (Week 11)
The Red Raiders are coming off a bowl win in 2023, but lost a ton of their starters to the transfer portal. Lucky for them, they managed to hang onto star running back Tahj Brooks, perhaps the best RB in the nation.
The Raiders and head coach Joey McGuire will likely continue to rely on the run game next season and it’ll be Colorado’s job to stop it. The Buffs’ new-and-improved defensive line will have a huge challenge when they head to West Texas, but it’s not insurmountable.
6: Nebraska in Lincoln (Week 2)
The Nebraska team we saw the Buffs beat up in Boulder last season has begun a bit of a transformation. The Huskers held their own in the Big 10 in the first year under Matt Rhule and finished 5-7, narrowly missing bowl eligibility by a last-second Iowa field goal.
Since then, the Huskers landed a potential star at quarterback in five-star recruit Dylan Raiola and are beginning to look like they’re building something. The Buffs have the talent to head a hostile environment and stun a good Huskers team, but it’ll be a huge challenge.
5: Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium (Week 13)
The Jayhawks are currently displaced from their on-campus stadium this season due to renovations, so they’ll take on the Buffs at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead stadium in November.
Under head coach Lance Leipold, Kansas football is going through a renascence. Quarterback Jalon Daniels will be brought up in Heisman discussions, while the Jayhawks’ secondary has quietly established itself as one of the nation’s best.
Coach Prime and the Buffs also allegedly tampered to try and steal Kansas star CB Cobee Bryant and bring him to Boulder, but that didn’t end up happening. This should be one hell of a football game in a venue that perfectly suits the spectacle.
4: Arizona in Tucson (Week 8)
This is where the difficulty takes another huge jump. The Buffs will likely be heavy underdogs from this point forward, but it’s important to note that none of these games are unwinnable.
Despite losing head coach Jedd Fisch to Washington, new hire Brent Brennan has done a fantastic job keeping Arizona’s star players in Tucson. Quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Teotairoa McMillan will be playing for the Wildcats next season, which makes this team a perpetual threat.
The Buffs hung around with Arizona last season and would’ve probably beat them if they didn’t make some dumb special teams decisions, but that’s water under the bridge now. 2023 proved that Colorado can go toe-to-toe with the Wildcats and they’ll have another chance to beat them in 2024.
3: Kansas State at home (Week 7)
Kansas State, champions of the world-famous 2023 Pop Tart Bowl, will be REALLY good in 2024. The Wildcats returned most of their defensive starters from last season, so their defense is a safe bet to be one of the conference’s best.
Kansas State’s offense is also nothing to scoff at. Sophomore Avery Johnson is set to take the reigns at quarterback after the departure of Will Howard and head coach Chris Klieman is banking on him being a game-changer.
This game will be heated after Colorado starting RB Dylan Edwards suddenly transferred to K-State. Thankfully, the Buffs have a bye week before this matchup so they’ll get extra time to prepare for the Wildcats.
2: Utah at home (Week 12)
Playing the Utes sucks. Anyone who’s been watching the Buffs play football for the last 13 years knows that. They always beat up on us and the games are rarely even close.
Utah looks poised to have one of their best seasons ever in 2024. Star quarterback Cameron Rising is returning for his seventh year of college football and the Utes lost hardly any talent to the transfer portal.
This will be a really difficult game for Colorado, but at least they’ll be playing at home. With a quarterback as talented as Shedeur Sanders, you can never count the Buffs out.
1: Oklahoma State at home (Week 14)
Fresh off an appearance in the Big XII championship game, the Cowboys are trying to establish themselves as the conference’s top dog. They returned ten starters on both offense and defense, making them the most experienced team in the Big XII. The Pokes are gearing up for one of their most important seasons in program history, but they’ll have to go through Boulder.
Both the Buffs and Cowboys have coaches who love talking. They also both have extremely passionate fanbases who have high expectations for their teams. This week 14 matchup should be one of the most entertaining games of 2024 as long as the Buffs can keep it competitive.
by RylandScholes
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