Rocky Mountain Showdown gets prime time and network in 2024

The Rocky Mountain Showdown was the seventh-most-watched college football game in the nation last fall and there should be fireworks again in 2024.

This fall the series shifts from Boulder to Fort Collins with the Buffaloes visiting the Rams up north for the first time since 1996. The game will kick off at 5:30 on Sept. 14 and be broadcast on CBS live from Canvas Stadium.

Must-see TV 📺#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/5CkTfpW4nr

— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) May 30, 2024

The game will be the Buffaloes final non-conference contest of the fall, following the season-opener in Boulder against North Dakota State and a road trip to another rival Nebraska.

For the Rams, it will also be their third game, following a trip to Austin to face the Longhorns and a home game against Northern Colorado.

Last year’s game was won by Colorado in double overtime 43-35, with the Buffaloes improving to 68–22–2 all-time in the series. The Buffs have beaten the Rams six straight times going back to 2014. This is the final game in the team’s series until home and home meetings in 2029 and 2030.

In 2023 the game was notable for its off-the-field fervor too, with College GameDay visiting Boulder for the contest. Colorado State’s coach Jay Norvell made derogatory comments to Deion Sanders about his appearance. It all lit up pregame with a scuffle and then during the game a Colorado State defender took out Buffs star Travis Hunter with a dirty hit. Hunter missed a month of action and the Buffs season crescendoed with the win against the Rams and tanked with Hunter out.

The Buffs finished 4-8 and the Rams 5-7 last fall. There should again be a lot of buzz about the game headed into year two of Coach Prime with his son Shedeur Sanders likely to be a top-five pick in the NFL Draft.

Sanders led a 98-yard drive and successful two-point conversion in the final two minutes to force overtime last season, drawing the highest number of eyes for an 8 p.m. MT game on ESPN ever.

Also on Thursday, the Rams received four other game times, including the Border War shifting to a Friday at 6:00 p.m., MT in Canvas Stadium on CBS Sports Network. Meanwhile, the Buffs found out their Black Friday game against Oklahoma State in Boulder will kick off at 10 a.m. on ABC.

With three of four games already selected for network television, the Buffs now have eight games on network television in the Coach Prime era. This coming season will be just the second time CU will appear on three of the four major networks in the United States in the same season, the other coming in 1990 when CU appeared on ABC, CBS and NBC on its way to the national championship. With FOX being a television partner of the Big 12, CU has a chance to appear on all four networks in the same season for the first time in school history.