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Everyone’s Super Bowl
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The NFL season will kick off its regular season in a few weeks … but you already knew that.
Everyone knows that.
The National Football League is the 800-pound gorilla of sport in the United States, and it isn’t even close. Of the top 100-most watched television broadcasts in 2023, 93 were NFL games. The Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in February was the most-watched television event since the moon-landing in 1969.
Every football player wants to get to play in the Super Bowl. Every fan wants their team to get to the Super Bowl.
The biggest game in the biggest sport is so ingrained in our psyche, it has become ubiquitous.
When a team is struggling, and has an upcoming game against an opponent which a level above them, or a game against a hated rival during a poor season, those games become their “Super Bowl”.
That being the case, it’s difficult to objectively imagine a team coming off of a 4-8 season, with a grand total of two bowl appearances in 17 years, being anyone’s “Super Bowl game”.
Yet Coach Prime’s Buffs, coming into the 2024 season on a six-game losing streak, are nonetheless a team with just that sort of bulls-eye on their backs.
Before Colorado can even get to their first Big 12 conference game in 14 years, the Buffs must run a gauntlet of non-conference opponents gunning for a signature win over CU.
For Colorado’s non-conference opponents, their game against the 4-8 Buffs represent their “Super Bowl” game this fall.
Witness …
North Dakota State
For any FCS team, a chance to play – and knock off – an FBS team is always going to be tantamount to a Super Bowl game.
And the Bison have made a habit out of beating FBS opponents.
North Dakota State won six games in a row against FBS teams between 2010 and 2022, with wins at Kansas (by a score of 6-3), Minnesota (37-24), Colorado State (22-7), Kansas State (24-21), Iowa State (34-14) and 11th-ranked Iowa (23-21). In the most-recent NDSU game against an FBS opponent, a 31-28 loss to Arizona in 2022, the Bison held a 28-24 for most of the fourth quarter.
North Dakota State, ranked No. 2 in the 2024 FCS preseason poll – and winners of nine FCS national championships since 2011 – would like nothing more than to make a statement to the college football world on ESPN before a national television audience on August 29th by beating Colorado.
Bison quarterback Cam Miller, himself a second-team preseason All-American, summed up what the CU game means to North Dakota State:
“An unbelievable opportunity,” Miller told an NDSU podcast. “Not a lot of teams get a crack at Colorado, especially a team of our level. Guys are super excited to play a bigger team in a bigger venue with more fans. It’s just going to be bigger. The atmosphere is going to be greater than what we’ve been accustomed to, but we played in big games last year … We’ve been in situations, and a lot of guys from that team are still here. We’ve been in every situation. Let’s bring it on and have some fun.”
While it’s more than fair for North Dakota State and its players to treat the CU game in Boulder as their Super Bowl game, what about …
Nebraska
For decades, Nebraska treated Colorado as its little brother, an annoyance which could easily be ignored.
A 49-21-2 overall lead in the all-time series supported the arrogance.
But now …
Colorado has a three-game winning streak in the series, with wins in 2018, 2019, and 2023. Overall, it’s now been over 5,000 days since Nebraska last beat Colorado … in 2010.
And don’t think for a moment that the drought doesn’t bother the Cornhusker Nation. Nebraska fans hate losing to CU more than they do losing to Ohio State. More than losing to Michigan. More than even losing to Nebraska’s Big Ten Thanksgiving weekend rival, Iowa.
Don’t believe me? Here is an excerpt from an article from the Nebraska Sports Illustrated writer …
As a Husker fan, what team do you hate the most?
The answer will likely vary based upon your age and experiences. Despite the “rivalry based on respect” narrative that has developed since the Big 8 died, I can assure you that fans in the 80s despised Oklahoma and everything they stood for.
Kansas State held that top spot for a while. Mizzou too. Heartbreaking losses against Miami, Florida State, and Texas put them high on the list as well. And since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, Iowa is definitely in the conversation.
But no matter when a Husker fan came of age, one team is guaranteed to be in their top two or three most hated opponents: Colorado.
Everything is setting up for a monstrous and memorable game in Memorial Stadium. Colorado. Night game. All of the venom fans have for the Buffs combined with their desire for a breakthrough moment.
The 2014 Miami game is not the loudest game in Memorial Stadium’s 101-year history, but it was one of the most hostile environments. There’s a good chance that Miami game will look like an 11 a.m. game against Middle Nowhere State compared to Colorado. The fans will bring the energy and try to will the team to victory.
And that’s from a journalist … imagine how important the CU game is to the average Nebraska fan.
This fall, Nebraska has high profile games against Ohio State and UCLA, a trip to Memorial Stadium in Los Angeles to face USC as a conference opponent for the first time, with rivalry games against to close out the season against Wisconsin and Iowa.
But if you ask most Nebraska fans which game they want to win more than any other?
Not even close … CU is Nebraska’s Super Bowl.
Now, as for CU’s little brother …
Colorado State
For CU fans to understand how much Colorado State fans hate/loath/resent Colorado … see above.
The same way Nebraska fans have loved to look down their noses at Colorado, Colorado fans love to look down their noses at Colorado State.
All-time series records:
- Nebraska over Colorado … 49-21-2 … .694 winning percentage;
- Colorado over Colorado State … 68-22-2 … .758
Of course, the underdog in the CU/Nebraska series has won three straight, and hasn’t lost to the big dog in 14 years (yes, again, over 5,000 days!).
Meanwhile, the CU/CSU series lately has gone according to Hoyle, with the Buffs winning six straight in the series, with the Rams not tasting victory in the Rocky Mountain Showdown since 2014.
Adding to the indignity was last year’s 43-35 double-overtime loss in Boulder, a game which the Rams led 28-17 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Now, the series returns to Ft. Collins for the first time since 1996, giving the fan base – and the players – all the more reason to point towards this game. It’s CSU’s last chance to take down big brother until the teams meet again … in 2029.
CSU administrators desperately want to keep CU fans from taking over their stadium, so they refused to sell single game tickets for the game.
Three-game plans were made available, meaning you had to buy tickets to two stinkers in order to get CU game tickets:
Green Plan
Sept. 7 – vs Northern Colorado (Ag. Day)
Sept. 14 – vs Colorado
Oct. 12 – vs San Jose State (Ram Good Time Weekend)
Gold Plan
Sept. 14 – vs Colorado
Sept. 21 – vs UTEP (State Pride)
Nov. 29 – vs Utah State (Senior Day)
(In case you were wondering about buying a season ticket to CSU’s yawn of a schedule, the other two CSU home games besides the four listed above are the rivalry game against Wyoming, and a game against pitiful New Mexico … sad).
Secondary market prices for the game show that there is interest in outsiders (read: CU fans) looking to get into the game. A look at options as of last week:
- SeatGeek: The cheapest ticket is $206 in the upper northeast corner. The most expensive seats are more than $600.
- StubHub: The cheapest ticket is $176 in the southeast corner. There’s one listing of more than $900.
- Ticketmaster: The cheapest ticket is $211. The most expensive is more than $600.
The split in the stands may partially depend on how well Colorado State fares in its road opener at No. 4 Texas, and how the Buffs fare against Nebraska in Lincoln.
Regardless of records, though, the weekend of September 14th will be huge for Ft. Collins and the home team.
It is most definitely CSU’s “Super Bowl”.
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The Buffs will finally get back to normal the weekend after the CSU game, hosting Baylor in the Buffs’ first Big 12 game in 14 years.
That’s not to say that some of CU’s Big 12 opponents won’t be gunning for Coach Prime and the Buffs.
At the Big 12 media days, no team received more attention than Colorado … and don’t think the opposing coaches and their star players on hand in Las Vegas didn’t notice.
Beating the Buffs, even for teams which will be favored to beat Colorado handily, will take an extra special meaning for CU’s new Big 12 rivals.
It’s one thing for a team like Michigan, which won the national championship last year, to expect everyone’s best shot this fall.
But for a team which the haters love to remind you finished 4-8 last season, the venom is disproportionate.
No chance CU’s going to fly under the radar as along as Coach Prime is in Boulder.
Every weekend will be a “put up or shut up” game for Colorado.
The Buffs will just have to get used to being everyone’s Super Bowl.
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2 Replies to “Everyone’s Super Bowl”
Buffs,
Take that “one vote” and run with it!
Up the sko
While every game will be a big game for the other team who is looking to knock CU down, that same hype is going to be driving the Buffs too; including Prime and the coaching staff. Can the Buffs find that energy week in and week out?
I bet they do for those first three games.
With both of the Sanders brothers and Hunter, along with a few other veteran players leading the way I expect a lot motivation and leadership to come out the locker room too. And, if Prime’s comment on the 7 or 8 defensive players being NFL caliber after THIS season, those guys are going to see the hype & national attention (9 & 10 million viewers of games last season) as their ticket to the NFL and will be bring their all too.
From what we’ve read about Friday night’s practice, the D-line looked to be ahead of the O-line, but does that mean the D-line is just really good and the O-line is better than advertised? OR, the O-line isn’t as far along as they need?
The way I read it, Shedeur was more comfortable in the pocket and the O-line was hampered by play calling, and the defense had an advantage since the offense doesn’t want to show anything to other teams. So, we don’t know if Friday night’s performance of the O-line was representative of what the line will look like in a live game, but I’m betting they will be better than what was seen last Friday night.