This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.
The Colorado 2024 Big 12 schedule was announced this past week. Buff fans have known for years who the non-conference opponents would be this fall, and we have known for some time which of the remaining 15 Big 12 teams would fill CU’s nine-game conference slate. But, it wasn’t until this week that the Buff Nation was introduced to the schedule for the Buffs' first season back in the Big 12.
This episode will be taking a deep dive into how CU’s fall lays out. Which teams have a bye week before playing the Buffs? Which teams will be coming off of a tough road contest or a rivalry game? Which teams may be looking past the Buffs to a “more important” game the following week?
So ... Will playing a top level FCS school, followed by two rivalry games on the road, derail optimism in the second season under Coach Prime, or will the non-conference slate be a springboard to a winning season? ... Will the Buffs, replacing Oregon and USC with Baylor and Central Florida to open conference play, be able to take advantage of an easier opening schedule? ... Will CU’s back-loaded conference schedule, with the potential to finish against three ranked teams, lead to another frustrating just-short-of-a-bowl-game finish? Or, as it did in 2016, when the Buffs vanquished ranked opponents on their way to the Pac-12 title game, use the tough slate of games to make their case as a Big 12 title contender?
Let’s find out ...