The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder . The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffaloes . "Lady Buffs" referred to the women's teams beginning in the 1970s, but was officially dropped in 1993. The nickname was selected by the campus newspaper in a contest with a $ 5 prize in 1934 won by Andrew Dickson of Boulder .
83-652: The university participates as a member of the Big 12 Conference at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Rick George was announced as the sixth athletic director in program history on July 17, 2013, following the resignation of Mike Bohn , and after an interim appointment by former Women's Basketball Head Coach former deputy athletic director Ceal Barry . Colorado has won 30 national championships in its history, with 21 in skiing,
166-535: A New Year's Six bowl game and have been granted exemptions from certain NCAA rules. The Big 12 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization . Brett Yormark became the commissioner on August 1, 2022. The Big 12 was founded in February 1994. All eight members of the former Big Eight Conference joined with half the members of the former Southwest Conference ( Texas , Texas A&M , Baylor and Texas Tech ) to form
249-483: A bison in a Colorado football game. A bison calf was rented from a local ranch and ran along the sidelines. The year 1947 marked key point in race relations on campus. The Buffaloes joined the Big Eight Conference . However, Missouri and Oklahoma had rules which would not have allowed them to challenge teams with "colored" players. A student outcry, led by campus paper Silver and Gold , led to
332-864: A best-in-class team to build a best-in-class business strategy for the Conference". November 14, 2022 Big 12 formed a comprehensive business advisor board composed of over three dozen entrepreneurial icons and respective industry leaders. From the likes of Monte Lipman the Founder/CEO Republic Records , Steve Stoute Founder/CEO UnitedMasters & Translation, Mark Shapiro President of Endeavor, Gary Vaynerchuk ’s VaynerMedia, singer Garth Brooks , NBA legend Jason Kidd , Keith Sheldon President of Entertainment for Hard Rock Cafe International, and Ross Levinsohn Chairman and CEO - The Arena Group & Sports Illustrated . The Big 12 partnered with creative agency Translation to help build
415-626: A buyout agreement that allowed those schools to join the Big 12 in 2023. On February 9, 2023, Oklahoma and Texas announced they had reached a settlement with the conference that allowed them to join the SEC on July 1, 2024. On July 27, 2023, Colorado , a former member of the Big 12, announced it would rejoin the conference from the Pac-12 beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. The following week, Arizona , Arizona State , and Utah announced they would leave
498-708: A conference version of the NFL combine , the Pro Day would be televised on NFL Network . In March, the Big 12 Conference announced a partnership with the legendary Rucker Park for a community engagement event. In June the event was officially announced as "Big 12 Hoops in the Park", to host men's and women's summer exhibition games. Throughout the event, the Big 12 is also preparing a number of entertainment activities and community engagements. The activities include youth clinics, meet-and-greets, live music, and food. Early June 2023,
581-481: A live buffalo , and Chip , a costumed mascot who was selected to the 2003 Capital One All-America Mascot Team and won the 2009, 2010 and 2020 UCA Mascot National Championships. Ralphie is actually Ralphie VI and leads the football team onto the field at the beginning of the first and second halves. A buffalo leading the team onto the field dates as far back as 1934 and the Ralphie tradition began in 1966. In 1934 after
664-575: A more contemporary audience and brand. Soon after Big 12 Conference made a deal with A Bathing Ape (BAPE) for Championship games. The Conference and BAPE worked together to create limited-edition clothing and a camouflaged Big 12 logo throughout the stadium, arena, and uniforms. The Big 12 has 11 official corporate partners: Allstate , Children’s Health , Dr Pepper , Gatorade , Grand Caliber, Old Trapper, On Location, Phillips 66 , Sonic Hard Seltzer , Sprouts Farmers Market , and Tickets For Less. There are dozens of other companies engaged as sponsors of
747-620: A movement against these Jim Crow restrictions which expanded to all the campuses of the Big 7 and eventually led to their repeal. On June 10, 2010, the Buffaloes announced that they would join the Pacific-10 Conference, soon renamed the Pac-12 Conference , in all sports beginning on July 1, 2011. On July 27, 2023, the Buffaloes announced that they would rejoin the Big 12 Conference in all sports beginning in
830-474: A primary conference affiliation. All Big West Conference members house at least one sport in the MPSF. The West Coast Conference is represented by six schools (Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco). The Pac-12 Conference was represented by five (Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC). Three conferences are represented by 2 schools: the Big 12 Conference (BYU, Oklahoma),
913-502: A rider must have enough high race results to upgrade to "A" category in the USA Cycling rankings. A number of "A" riders will be chosen by the coaches to represent CU at the national championships. The number of riders the team is allowed to send is based on how well the team did overall during the season. Colorado has won 28 national championships. The University has had several fight songs that have lost and gained popularity over
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#1732772643761996-580: A separate table below). Men's (and Coed – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities: Below are the women's sports sponsored by each member institution. The only women's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, indoor track and outdoor track. Oklahoma State is the only member that does not sponsor volleyball, and only Utah and West Virginia do not sponsor golf. Beach volleyball (4 full members) and equestrian (3 full members, 1 affiliate) have
1079-472: A stripe on the sleeve for three seasons (1985–87) before being dropped completely in 1988 . In 2007 , CU debuted new football jerseys that reintegrated silver as a uniform color. Criteria for automatic selection: Three-time all-conference selection, two-time All-American, trophy winner or previously retired jersey. Beginning in 2015, the school went from a two-year to one year induction cycle to catch up on its history. Inductees are nominated by their peers in
1162-467: A symbol of the mineral wealth of the state. In 1959, the athletic teams started using black and yellow , because silver and gold ended up looking like dirty white and dirty yellow. The colors have stuck and many are unaware that the official school colors are silver and gold. On May 28, 1981, black was curiously replaced by " Sky Blue " by a mandate of the CU Board of Regents, to represent the color of
1245-410: A women's softball program, one of three Pac-12 members ( USC , Washington State ) opting not to participate. The Colorado football program is 16th on the all-time NCAA Division I win list and 22nd in all-time winning percentage (.614). Since Folsom Field was built in 1924, the Buffaloes have been 280–132–10 (.675) at home. The Nebraska game in 2006 was CU's 1100th football game. Bill McCartney
1328-624: Is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States , although it has added members as far east as Pennsylvania . The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level, primarily in Olympic sports that are not sponsored by a school's primary conference (such as the Pac-12 and Big West , many of whose members participate in MPSF competition in at least one of its sports). The MPSF
1411-650: Is a member of the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. The Big 12 is one of the Power Four conferences , the four highest-earning and most historically successful FBS football conferences. Power Four conferences are guaranteed at least one bid to
1494-752: Is in Manhattan, Kansas , which is part of the Topeka, Kansas media market, but it is close to the Wichita market, which encompasses two-thirds of the state (stretching to the border with Colorado ), including the cities of Dodge City , Garden City , Hutchinson and Salina . While the University of Kansas is in Lawrence, Kansas , it has close proximity to the Kansas City television market, increasing
1577-663: Is one of two members of the Big-12 along with Utah that competes in skiing. Colorado is one of the dominant programs in the NCAA in skiing, winning 21 total national championships, including 20 NCAA Championships , most recently in 2024. The Buffaloes have won 29 RMISA championships, most recently in 2024. The Buffaloes have had 53 individuals connected to the school participate in the Olympics 85 times. Colorado has had 105 individual national champions, including Magnus Boee men's Nordic titles in 2021(2), and 2024 (20k), Cassidy Gray winning
1660-1254: Is the most famous head coach, leading Colorado to its only national championship in 1990 . Current head coach Deion Sanders was approved by the university's board of regents in December 2022 . Beginning competitive play in 1890, Colorado has enjoyed much success through its history. The team has won numerous bowl games (27 appearances in bowl games (12-15), 23rd (tied) all-time prior to 2004 season), 8 Colorado Football Association Championships (1894–97, 1901–08), 1 Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference (1909), 7 RFMAC Championships (1911, 1913, 1923, 1924, 1934, 1935, 1937), 4 Mountain States Conference Championships (1939, 1942–44), 5 Big Eight (Six) conference championships (1961, 1976, 1989, 1990, 1991), 1 Big 12 conference championship (2001), 4 Big 12 North Championships (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005), and an Associated Press national championship in 1990. The team holds rivalries with Nebraska , Colorado State , and Utah . Colorado football also has one Heisman Trophy winner: There have also been 9 unanimous All-Americans : There are seven players and one coach in
1743-603: The Big 12 Conference , which announced it would start sponsoring beach volleyball in 2024–25. The other six, which joined either the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big Ten Conference , made up almost all of the inaugural MPSF beach volleyball membership. California, Stanford, UCLA, and USC were already MPSF members in other sports, and Oregon and Washington were returning MPSF members. The only inaugural beach volleyball member not arriving from
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#17327726437611826-641: The Big Eight Conference Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: Click here for the Southwest Conference Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: Current members with the longest continuous association with the Big Eight Conference / Southwest Conference / Big 12 Conference. The Big 12 Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 15 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Source : Below are
1909-692: The College Football Hall of Fame : They play at the CU Events Center on campus and are 465–179 (.722) at home, through the 2020-21 season, including 139–24 (.853) in 11 years under coach Tad Boyle. ¹ Invitations Women's Basketball started at Colorado in 1975. The team has had seven coaches and the current coach is JR Payne . The CU ski team competes as a member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association , as CU
1992-938: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Alaska Anchorage), the Lone Star Conference (Texas Woman's), the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (Wheaton (MA)), the Pacific West Conference (Concordia–Irvine), the Presidents' Athletic Conference (Washington & Jefferson), the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (Austin), and the Southland Conference (Incarnate Word). All of
2075-661: The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1947, then commonly known as the Big Six, changing the common name to the Big Seven. In 1958, the conference added OSU to become the Big Eight Conference . It remained the Big 8 until 1996, when it combined with four member schools of the defunct Southwest Conference (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor) to create the Big 12 Conference . On July 1, 2011,
2158-652: The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as the Pac-12 doesn't sponsor indoor track. Women's lacrosse was added in the spring of 2014; that team competed in the MPSF until the Pac-12 Conference added women's lacrosse as a sport for the 2018 season. Colorado is the only Pac-12 school and one of only four Power 5 schools that do not sponsor baseball , along with Iowa State , Syracuse , and Wisconsin . CU does not have
2241-799: The Mountain West Conference (Air Force and San Jose State), and the Western Athletic Conference (Grand Canyon and Southern Utah). Twelve conferences are represented by one school each – the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (Penn State Behrend), the Big Sky Conference (Sacramento State), the Big Ten Conference (Indiana), the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (Augustana (IL)),
2324-463: The Pac-12 Conference , which sponsors beach volleyball, after 2023–24: California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington. The only member not coming from the Pac-12 is Grand Canyon. The following month, the MPSF announced that Saint Mary's, which had been an MPSF member in women's lacrosse before the school dropped the sport in 2017, had returned to the conference in women's indoor track & field. There are three sports that are sponsored under
2407-595: The "Big 12 Mexico" was announced, which will include men's and women's soccer, baseball, basketball, and football games and an international media rights strategy. The Big 12 Mexico will debut in December 2024 with men's and women's basketball games between Kansas and Houston at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City . The Big 12 will also consider hosting a football bowl game in Monterrey beginning in 2026. This would be
2490-472: The 14 presidents and chancellors of SEC member universities voted unanimously to invite Oklahoma and Texas to join the SEC. The following day, the Texas Board of Regents and Oklahoma Board of Regents each accepted the invitation to join the SEC from July 1, 2025. On September 10, 2021, the Big 12 announced that invitations had been extended to and accepted by BYU (a football independent and member of
2573-462: The 2012 season due to a near-complete membership turnover , it needed to add another men's sport to maintain its Division I status. To that end, it invited the four remaining MPSF soccer schools to join them; all accepted, and the WAC began sponsoring men's soccer in 2013–14. In October 2015, Arizona State announced that it would elevate its club team in women's lacrosse to full varsity status starting in
Colorado Buffaloes - Misplaced Pages Continue
2656-483: The 2012 season. The moves of Denver (all sports) and New Mexico (soccer only) to other conferences left the MPSF with six soccer members, but all six would soon leave due to moves by the Western Athletic Conference. MPSF soccer member Seattle was already in the WAC, and another MPSF soccer school, CSU Bakersfield, was already committed to join the WAC in 2013. Because the WAC dropped football after
2739-575: The 2016–17 season. The GCC took six of the 10 members of the MPSF men's water polo league, leaving the MPSF with only the four Pac-12 members that sponsor the sport. On May 31, 2016, the Big West Conference announced that it would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2017–18 school year (2018 season). The Big West men's volleyball league launched with full members Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i, plus associate member UC San Diego (which joined
2822-408: The 2017–18 school year (2018 season), which will give the Pac-12 six women's lacrosse schools. This number is required by league bylaws for official sponsorship of a sport, and is also the number of teams required for a conference to be an automatic NCAA tournament qualifier. This led the Pac-12 to announce that all of its women's lacrosse teams would leave the MPSF for the new Pac-12 lacrosse league for
2905-533: The 2018 season. MPSF women's lacrosse continued to operate through the 2021 season, though it would lose its automatic NCAA tournament bid after the 2019 season. The next major change in conference membership came in January 2016, when the Golden Coast Conference , a water polo-only league that previously operated only a women's competition, announced it would add a men's division effective with
2988-412: The 2020–21 school year was the last for MPSF women's lacrosse . The conference membership varies by sport; 39 schools are MPSF members in at least one of its sponsored sports. Schools are not required to participate in MPSF competition for a sponsored sport if their primary conference affiliation sponsors a competition in that sport (e.g. Pac-12 in soccer and women's gymnastics). All MPSF members have
3071-805: The 2024–25 academic year. The University of Colorado was a member of the Colorado Football Association in 1893, and became a charter member of the Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference in 1909, which changed its name a year later to Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference . Colorado left the RMFAC to become a charter member of the Mountain States Conference (a.k.a. Skyline Conference) in 1938. CU joined
3154-566: The Alumni C Club or by members of the selection committee. Don Campbell (track, 1946–50) Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas . It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona , Colorado , Florida , Iowa , Kansas , Ohio , Oklahoma , Texas , Utah , and West Virginia . The Big 12
3237-486: The Big 12 and not its new conference". GOR is seen by league members as a "foundation of stability" and allowed the Big 12 to be "positioned with one of the best media rights arrangements in collegiate sports, providing the conference and its members unprecedented revenue growth, and sports programming over two networks." All members agreed to the GOR and later agreed to extend the initial 6-year deal to 13 years to correspond to
3320-409: The Big 12. The unique arrangement potentially allows Big 12 members to remain some of college sports' highest revenue earners. Other conferences' cable deals are subject to value reductions based on how people acquire cable programming; Big 12 universities' tier 3 deals are exempt. Texas alone earned more than $ 150 million of that total from their Longhorn Network before it was shut down with its move to
3403-589: The Big West full-time in July 2020). UC San Diego left the federation with the launch of Big West men's volleyball, but the other Big West members remain in the MPSF in other sports. California Baptist also exited the MPSF after dropping its only conference sport of men's volleyball shortly after the 2017 season, and Cal State Bakersfield (now being rebranded athletically as Bakersfield) left the MPSF after dropping its last remaining conference sport of women's water polo at
Colorado Buffaloes - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-461: The Buffs lost in the plate final to Clemson in the inaugural international Red Bull University Sevens tournament. Founded in 1983 by Jim Castagneri, the cycling team was taken to the national championships in 1987 by 1992 Olympian John Stenner . The CU cycling team frequently ranks in the top five USA Cycling Collegiate teams in both road cycling and mountain biking disciplines. They have won
3569-470: The Colorado sky. However, this color was different from the blue uniforms of the U.S. Air Force Academy . After three years, the blue was changed in 1984 to a darker shade, though still unpopular. In black and white photographs the players' numbers are nearly invisible. During a difficult 1-10 season in 1984, football head coach Bill McCartney employed black "throwback" jerseys for an emotional lift for
3652-412: The Colorado women have claimed four conference titles, including three consecutive following a shot lapse (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017). The Colorado Buffaloes baseball team was discontinued after the 1980 season. Baseball, wrestling, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming, and women's diving comprised the seven programs that were discontinued on June 11, 1980, due to budget cuts. Colorado
3735-517: The MPSF members from the Pac-12 left at the end of the 2023–24 school year, at which time the Big Ten is represented by three schools (adding UCLA and USC), and the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 are each be represented by two (ACC: California and Stanford; Big 12: adding Arizona State but losing Oklahoma). Also in 2024–25, the Pacific West representation will increase to four schools with
3818-403: The MPSF. All aquatic sports Men's & women's swimming & diving Women's swimming & diving Men's swimming & diving Artistic swimming Fencing was introduced as an MPSF sport in the 2021-22 season. The MPSF currently has three members that participate in fencing. Fencing members Men's gymnastics was introduced as an MPSF sport with the formation of
3901-563: The MPSF. Al Beaird was the first Executive Director of the MPSF for 24 years, from 1998 to 2021. Foti Mellis became the second executive director on June 1, 2021. Mellis was a Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of California. Source: The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation sponsors championship competition in five men's and five women's NCAA sanctioned sports The MPSF dropped men's soccer after
3984-549: The Pac-12 for the Big 12, also effective for the 2024–25 academic year. The largest media markets represented by the Big 12 are, ranked nationally: Although West Virginia University is based out of Morgantown, West Virginia (officially part of the Pittsburgh (26th) media market), the TV market encompasses the majority of West Virginia's TV viewership and also reaches well into Western Pennsylvania . Kansas State University
4067-714: The Pac-12 is Grand Canyon. Men's & women's (beach) volleyball Women's (beach) volleyball Men's volleyball All national champions are in men's volleyball. † — Vacated due to NCAA violations Source: The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has won 100 NCAA titles in seven sports. UCLA has won 25 national titles. Stanford has won 20 titles. USC has won 16 titles. Oregon has won 12 titles. Oklahoma has won nine titles. California has won six titles. UC Irvine has won four titles. Arizona State and Brigham Young have won three titles. Pepperdine has won two titles. The MPSF has won every men's and women's water polo NCAA title since
4150-533: The SEC, ESPN also ran a dedicated cable network for the Texas Longhorns known as Longhorn Network , as a joint venture between the university and Learfield . The Big 12 has a sponsorship rights partnership with Learfield IMG College . The Big 12 announced on September 9, 2022, that it appointed WME Sports and IMG Media , Endeavor companies, to facilitate its global content and commercial strategy. Commissioner Brett Yormark stated "We have aligned with
4233-401: The SEC. As of 2022, all of the Big 12's tier 3 rights are held by ESPN; it bought the tier 3 rights to most Big 12 teams (besides Oklahoma) in 2019, moving the events exclusively to ESPN+ . The Oklahoma Sooners retained an agreement with Bally Sports Oklahoma (which distributed its football game via pay-per-view ) until 2022, when it also sold its rights to ESPN+. Prior to its departure to
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#17327726437614316-605: The Texas Tech vs. Kansas State football game being the first-ever sports event staged by the conference. From its formation until 2011, its 12 members competed in two divisions in most sports. The two Oklahoma universities and the four Texas universities formed the South Division, while the other six universities of the former Big Eight formed the North Division. Between 2011 and 2012 four charter members left
4399-544: The aquatics section. Men's and women's swimming and diving were launched in the 2010-11 season. Artistic swimming was later added in the 2021-22 season. In June 2023, the Big West announced the addition of men's and women's swimming and diving as a sponsored sport beginning in the 2024-25 school year. As a result, six Big West members will move their aquatics programs to their primary conference, including three members (Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and UC Santa Barbara) who were only MPSF members in aquatics and will thus effectively leave
4482-568: The arrival of Jessup University Jessup , Menlo , and Vanguard while the Southeastern Conference will be represented by Oklahoma. Due to the Big West addition of men's and women's swimming and diving as a sponsored sport beginning in the 2024-25 school year, six Big West members will move their aquatics programs to their primary conference, including three members (Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and UC Santa Barbara) who were only MPSF members in aquatics and will thus effectively leave
4565-439: The base into western Missouri . * Arizona State University * University of Utah Member universities granted their first and second tier sports media rights to the conference for the length of their current TV deals. The Grant of Rights (GOR) deal with the leagues' TV contracts ensures that "if a Big 12 school leaves for another league in the next 13 years, that school's media rights, including revenue, would remain with
4648-539: The conference while women's gymnastics was initiated for the 2001-02 season. The MPSF currently has four members that participate in men's gymnastics and four for women's. Men's & women's gymnastics Women's gymnastics Men's gymnastics Men's and women's indoor track & field were introduced for the 1992–93 season as one of the conference's inaugural sports. Conference records before 1999 are incomplete. All national champions are in men's volleyball. Men's volleyball
4731-441: The conference, with play beginning in 1996. Arizona , Arizona State , Colorado , and Utah joined the conference on August 2, 2024, as part of a more extensive NCAA conference realignment . Full members Other Conference Other Conference Affiliate member (other sport) Founding members from Big 8 Conference Founding members from Southwest Conference Click here for
4814-564: The conference. On March 15, 2023, before the NFL Draft , the Big 12 announced the first of its kind across all college conferences , being a conference-wide Pro Day . Instead of schools hosting separate pro days for their football players, there will be only one conference-wide scouting event before the 2024 NFL draft. The event will be held at the Dallas Cowboys training complex, Ford Center at The Star . What essentially would be
4897-432: The conference: In 2012, two universities joined the conference: On July 26, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas notified the Big 12 Conference that the two universities did not wish to extend their grant of television rights beyond the 2024–25 athletic year. On July 27, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas sent a joint letter to the Southeastern Conference requesting an invitation for membership beginning July 1, 2025. On July 29, 2021,
4980-688: The distribution was 76 percent equal and 24 percent based on television appearances. Changing the arrangement requires a unanimous vote; as a Big 12 member, Nebraska and Texas A&M had withheld support for more equitable revenue distribution. With this model, larger universities can receive more revenue because they appear more often on television. In 2006, for example, Texas received $ 10.2 million, 44% more than Baylor University's $ 7.1 million. Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation ( MPSF )
5063-508: The final, to qualify for the 2011 USA Rugby collegiate rugby sevens national championship . Colorado finished the 2011–12 season ranked 14th in the nation. In the 2012–13 season, Colorado defeated Wisconsin 54-24 to advance to the national D1-A quarterfinals, before losing to St. Mary's. The Buffs also won the plate final in the 2015–2016 season at the Las Vegas Invitational 7s tournament in the college bracket. Most recently
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#17327726437615146-549: The first-ever bowl game in Mexico. Conference revenue comes mostly from television contracts, bowl games , the NCAA , merchandise, licensing and conference-hosted sporting events. The Conference distributes revenue annually to member institutions. From 1996 to 2011, 57 percent of revenue was allotted equally; while 43 percent was based upon the number of football and men's basketball television appearances and other factors. In 2011,
5229-514: The former Big Eight Conference joined with half the members of the former Southwest Conference ( Texas , Texas A&M , Baylor and Texas Tech ) to form the conference, with play beginning in 1996. The Big 12 does not claim the Big Eight's history as its own, even though it was essentially the Big Eight plus four of the Texas universities. The Big 12 began athletic play in fall 1996, with
5312-405: The games against Oklahoma and Nebraska , without success. In April 1985 , the CU athletic teams were given the option of blue or black. The football team chose to wear black, and at Folsom Field the background for the signature "Colorado" arc (at the base of the seats behind the south end zone), blue for four years, was repainted black as well. On the football uniforms, the blue was reduced to
5395-669: The length of their TV contracts. Prior to this agreement, the Big Ten and Pac-12 also had similar GOR agreements. The Big 12 subsequently assisted the ACC in drafting its GOR agreement. Three of the four major conferences now have such agreements, with the SEC the only exception. The Big 12 is the only major conference that allows members to monetize TV rights for tier 3 events in football and men's basketball. This allows individual Big 12 member institutions to create tier 3 deals that include TV rights for one home football game and four home men's basketball games per season. Tier 3 rights exist for other sports as well, but these are not unique to
5478-436: The lowest participation, each with 4 total members. Lacrosse (3 full members, 3 affiliates) and rowing (4 full members, 2 affiliates) follow with 6 total members. The affiliate members are listed in a separate table below. Women's (and co-educational – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities: The Big 12 Conference was founded in February 1994. All eight members of
5561-581: The men's sports sponsored by each member institution. The only men's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, football, and golf. Swimming and diving has the lowest participation with only seven universities fielding a team. The Big 12 fields 14 teams for wrestling. Before the conference's 2023 expansion, it had the most competing schools of any Big 12 sport, with 13 members at that time. The 2022–23 and 2024–25 wrestling lineups both included only 4 full conference members; all remaining wrestling schools were affiliate members (listed in
5644-406: The most recent coming in 2024. It was ranked #14 of "America's Best Sports College" in a 2002 analysis performed by Sports Illustrated . Competitive football began on the Boulder campus in 1890. Early games, which bore more resemblance to rugby than modern football, were played against the School of Mines and Utah . The football stadium, originally "Colorado Stadium," was opened in 1924 and
5727-636: The national championship on several occasions, including 2005, when they won in both disciplines. Many members of the club have gone on into professional cycling, including Sepp Kuss and Tyler Hamilton . A founding club member of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference, the team is open to any student who pays annual dues and meets a minimum amount of credits during the semester. The members include nearly every different type of cyclist, from BMX riders, trials , and bicycle commuters to elite amateur or part-time professional road and mountain riders. Specifically, to qualify for road or mountain nationals,
5810-539: The non-football West Coast Conference ) and three members of the American Athletic Conference in Cincinnati , UCF , and Houston . These moves, combined with the impending departure of Oklahoma and Texas, would once again increase the Big 12's membership to twelve schools. All four schools began competing in Big 12 athletics beginning in summer of 2023. BYU had initially announced that it would join in 2023, and Houston indicated it could do so as well. On June 10, 2022, The American and its three departing members announced
5893-514: The same time. It was announced in August 2021 that the MPSF would add men's and women's fencing to the conference as the tenth sport. It was announced in September 2021 that the MPSF would add women's artistic swimming to the conference as the eleventh sport. On November 9, 2023, the MPSF announced that it would add beach volleyball, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, for the 2025 season (2024–25 school year). The inaugural membership in that sport will consist mainly of schools that are leaving
5976-424: The school joined the Pac-12 Conference , along with Utah . A total of 12 of CU's 17 varsity sports compete in the Pac-12, except the ski teams, indoor track & field teams and the lacrosse team. The ski teams participate in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA), of which it has been a member since 1947, along with fellow Pac-12 newcomer Utah. The indoor track & field teams participate in
6059-546: The selection of Buffaloes as a nickname when a group of students paid $ 25 to rent a buffalo calf and cowboy as his keeper for the last game of the season. The calf was the son of Killer, a famed bison at Trails End Ranch in Fort Collins, Colorado . It took the cowboy and four students to keep the calf under control on the sidelines during the game, a 7–0 win at the University of Denver on Thanksgiving Day. The official school colors are silver and gold , adopted in 1888 as
6142-486: The three fight songs and the most widely recognized is "Fight CU." Originally sung by the football team, the song has gained enough popularity that few people outside the band know that it is not the only fight song of the university. The original version included the line "fight, fight for every yard" but the line was changed to "fight, fight for victory" to allow the song to be used for all sports, not just football. The two mascots present at all football games are Ralphie ,
6225-461: The top college rugby teams in the country. Colorado's best run was 1984–1985, when it reached the 1984 national finals before losing 12-4 to powerhouse Cal, and finished third in the 1985 national playoffs losing again to eventual champion Cal, this time in the semifinals. More recently, in 2008 the Buffaloes went 15-3 and reached the semifinals of the national championships. Colorado won the 2011 Pac-12 rugby sevens tournament, defeating Utah 14–12 in
6308-758: The women's GS championship in 2021, and Magdalena Luczak sweeping the alpine events in 2024. Boulder's high elevation of 5,400 feet (1,650 m) adds aerobic stress to distance runners and is known to produce a competitive edge when altitude-trained athletes compete at sea level . The 1998 cross country team was the subject of a book, Running with the Buffaloes , which documents the team's training regimen under long-time coach Mark Wetmore . Colorado has won five NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships (2001, 2004, 2006, 2013, and 2014) and three NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships (2000, 2004, 2018). The men's team also has won four individual titles (Mark Scrutton, Adam Goucher , Jorge Torres, and Dathan Ritzenhein ), while
6391-462: The women's side has won two ( Kara Goucher , Dani Jones ). The men won the first twelve Big 12 Conference titles in the conference's history and the women won 11 of the first 12 (all but 1998–99), with the two teams combining for 23 of the 32 championships awarded before the Buffs left the Big 12 in 2011 to join the Pac-12. Since joining the Pac-12 Conference, the Colorado men won their first six conference titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) and
6474-616: The years. The oldest, "Glory Colorado", is sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and has been around nearly as long as the school. Glory Colorado is considered to represent all campuses of the University. "Go Colorado" was originally sung exclusively by the Glee Club at football games, though it is now played and known almost exclusively by members of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band. The most popular of
6557-678: Was founded in 1967. The Buffaloes play in the Western Division of Division I-A , where they play against local rivals such as Colorado State and less localized teams like the New Mexico and Utah State. The Buffaloes are led by head coach Murray Wallace, assisted by John Barkmeier Chris Dyas, Justin Holshuh, Conor Sears, and Steve Brown. Kevin Whitcher coaches the Buffaloes sevens team. The Buffaloes have consistently been ranked among
6640-423: Was founded in 1992 to provide an outlet for competition in non-revenue-producing Olympic sports . The MPSF conducts championships in men's volleyball , as well as indoor track , gymnastics , and water polo for both men and women. In 2010 the MPSF added women's swimming and diving, and added those sports for men in the 2011–12 season. The 2012–13 school year was the last for MPSF competition in men's soccer , and
6723-426: Was introduced for the 1993 season (1992–93 school year) as one of the conference's inaugural sports. The MPSF will add beach volleyball in the 2025 season (2024–25 school year). The MPSF added the sport in the wake of the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference , which saw 10 of its 12 members leave for other conferences after the 2023–24 school year. Of the 10 departing schools, nine sponsor beach volleyball. Three left for
6806-479: Was officially renamed Folsom Field in November 1944 to honor Coach Fred Folsom , one of the most respected college football coaches of his day. In 1934, the university's intercollegiate teams were officially nicknamed the "Buffaloes." Previous nicknames used by the press included the "Silver Helmets" and "Frontiersmen." The final game of 1934, against the University of Denver , saw also the inaugural running of
6889-420: Was the only Pac-12 school and one of only four Power 5 schools that do not sponsor baseball, the other three being Iowa State , Syracuse and Wisconsin . The men's golf team won three Big Eight Conference championships: 1954, 1955 (co-champions), 1968. Hale Irwin won the 1967 NCAA Championship . Colorado has a very active and developed club sports system with over 30 sports. Colorado's rugby program
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