The biggest college football game in Colorado is back in prime time. Thanks, in part, to Coach Prime himself.
The CSU Rams and CU Buffs announced Thursday that the rivalry game between the two biggest college football programs in the state will kick at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at Canvas Stadium, and will be televised nationally on CBS.
It’s the second straight year for the Showdown after a four-season hiatus, and the second straight year it’ll be played for a prime-time national audience. The 2023 matchup, held at CU’s Folsom Field, kicked off at 8 p.m. local time on ESPN. And it turned into a long, eventful evening, as the underdog Rams held a lead early but eventually fell to Deion Sanders’ Buffs in double-overtime, 43-35.
The Sept. 14 Showdown will be the first ever at Canvas Stadium, which opened in 2017. And the first in FoCo since 1996.
CU also announced that its regular-season home finale against Oklahoma State at Folsom Field will kick off at 10 a.m. and air on ABC, and that its Oct. 26 home game with Cincinnati will air on one of the ESPN/Disney family of networks at a time to be determined.
All three of the Buffs’ nonconference games have been earmarked for prime-time kickoffs. CU’s season-opener at home against North Dakota State will kick at 6 p.m. on ESPN; the Buffs road showdown with rival Nebraska will air on NBC at 5:30 p.m.
CSU also announced that the annual Border War game with Wyoming will kick on a Friday evening, with a 6 p.m. start on Nov. 15 at Canvas Stadium.
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