Pre-game updates
Predictions
Kyle Newman, sportswriter: CSU 31, CU 28
This is a fork in the road for both teams’ seasons. The Rams get their first win over the Buffs since 2014, and their first statement victory of the Norvell Era. CSU’s defensive front comes up with key pressures, and Henry Blackburn’s late interception seals the game for the Rams, who also get a clutch performance out of QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. This win propels CSU to a breakout season and its first bowl since 2017. The Buffs, meanwhile, go the other way: After getting beat by a rival in back-to-back weeks because CU can’t protect the QB and its defense can’t hold, the reality of the Buffs’ tough Big 12 schedule hits hard and Season 2 under Coach Prime spirals.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist: CU 33, CSU 21
What’s the golden Rocky Mountain Showdown rule? When the oddsmakers say it’ll be a blowout, it ends up close. When all signs point to a close game, here comes the rout. The Buffs are flawed, you say? So are the Rams, whether they’ve got a rockin’ Canvas Stadium at their backs or not. FoCo will be electric, but electricity alone can’t make up for a dinged-up Tory Horton. CSU has to play nearly perfectly to lap its bigger, faster and more talented big brother down the road. As long as Shedeur Sanders is healthy, CU’s got a lot more wiggle room. And more than enough speed to pull this one out late. Again.
Matt Schubert, sports editor: CU 42, CSU 24
At the start of the season, there were plenty of reasons to believe this game would be close: Year 3 under head coach Jay Norvell. A returning starting QB (Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi) and dangerous weapons (receiver Tory Horton, running back Justin Marshall) around him. And the game’s in FoCo! Just one problem: Through two weeks, the Rams haven’t looked very good. While it would be a stretch to say CU has, either, the defense has provided hope with back-to-back strong second halves, and the Buffs have a clear talent advantage. If the Rams can’t pressure Shedeur Sanders (they can’t), CU names its score.
Corey Masisak, sportswriter: CU 23, CSU 13
Watching Tory Horton pull up lame during the Northern Colorado game last week is definitely coloring this prediction. If Horton was definitely healthy, the Rams could have a great chance in this one — especially if Colorado’s offensive line issues continue for another week. CSU didn’t inspire a lot of confidence after Horton was injured against an FCS opponent who isn’t in the same weight class as the one that pushed the Buffs to the brink. Feels like this one could lack some of the fireworks from a year ago … or this is way off and it’s a wild shootout again.
CU Buffs vs. Nebraska: Must reads
BOULDER — When the bully across the road gives you a wedgie on national TV, the neighbors start to worry. Get beat by little brother? The neighbors start to talk.
“I would say (CU Buffs coach) Deion Sanders needs (Saturday) more,” CBS analyst and former NFL lineman Ross Tucker, who’s in the booth for Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Showdown at Fort Collins, told me by phone earlier this week. “The reason why I say that is when things started to go south (in 2023), they really went south. (CU) did not show the ability to really handle and overcome adversity very well.
“So based on how last year went, if you’re a CU fan or if you’re a Deion fan, you see back-to-back losses to Nebraska and to CSU, two of the four teams you beat last year, you’ve got to think about how well they’ll be able to keep the team together and in a good headspace for the rest of the season. … (It’s) not even, ‘Here we go again.’ It’s, ‘These are actually two of the teams we beat last year, so we’re going in the wrong direction.’” Read more…
Chase Wilson has plenty of great long-term memories about the Rocky Mountain Showdown from growing up in Arvada, where he and his family made an annual tradition of gathering around the TV to watch CSU versus CU.
His short-term memory of the game, which his Rams lost in double OT last year? Not as lovely.
“I always remember turning it on in the living room with my family, and my mom would be making dinner or some sort of Saturday lunch, and it was a big event in our house,” CSU’s redshirt senior middle linebacker said.
“… (But in terms of last season), the accumulation of CU’s whole last scoring drive (to force overtime) is what stuck with me. Throughout the drive there were execution mistakes across the board on defense. The whole drive as a collective is that sour taste that’s lingered.”
Buffs QB Shedeur Sanders drove CU 98 yards in 90 seconds to score and make the game-tying two-point conversion with 36 seconds left in regulation. CU then won in the second extra period, 43-35, in front of a raucous black-and-gold crowd at Folsom Field. Read more…
CSU Rams announce they will be joining Pac-12 Conference
College sports’ tectonic plates shifted again Thursday morning, as another Colorado school is making a major move.
The CSU Rams announced that they’ll be joining the Pac-12 — the former conference of the CU Buffs — along with three other Mountain West Conference members on July 1, 2026.
For university president Amy Parsons, it’s a move the school has had its sights set on for more than a decade.
“In a way, we’ve been preparing for this for a long time,” Parsons told The Denver Post by phone from Canvas Stadium a few hours after the announcement. “It’s one of the things we had set out to do when we built this beautiful new football stadium.” Read more…
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