Inside Colorado Buffaloes’ Grueling Early 2026 Schedule

The Colorado Buffaloes schedule for the 2026 college football season has officially been released. It's will be a difficult start, with Colorado being on the road for three of their first four games.

Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks along the sidelines late in the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The Colorado Buffaloes officially have their full schedule for the 2026 college football season. Here is the full slate of games and dates for Coach Deion Sanders’ team. 

Colorado’s 2026 Schedule 

Oct 25, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders looks on during a time out in the game against the Utah Utes during the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Sep. 5 at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Sep. 12 vs. Weber State Wildcats 
Sep. 19 at Northwestern Wildcats
Sep. 26 at Baylor Bears
Oct. 3 vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Oct. 10 Bye Week
Oct. 17 vs. Utah Utes
Oct. 24 at Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas State Wildcats
Nov. 7 at Arizona State Sun Devils
Nov. 14 vs. Houston Cougars
Nov. 21 at Cincinnati Bearcats
Nov. 28 vs. UCF Knights

Starting Out on the Road

Nov 23, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders leads his team on to the field against the Kansas Jayhawks at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

The first month of the season will be especially difficult for the Buffs as they have three of their first games on the road. The only home game in this stretch is against Weber State while the other three are all on the road against an ACC team, Big Ten, and SEC team. 

The first game is at Georgia Tech, who went into Boulder in Week 1 last season and won. The Yellow Jackets went 9-4 in 2025. After the Weber State game, Colorado has a trip to Northwestern. The Wildcats went 7-6 last season. The following week is the Big 12 opener on the road against Baylor. Baylor is coming off a 5-7 season. 

After this opening stretch, Colorado doesn’t have to travel nearly as much. They play three of their next four games, all Big 12 conference games, at home. Colorado’s home and road split this season is at an even six and six. While two of their three non-conference games are on the road, Colorado has five home conference games and just four road ones. 

If Colorado can get out of the first month of the season with a 2-2 or 3-1 record, that would be a success. The Buffaloes went 3-9 in 2025 and are looking to at least double that win total to get back to a bowl in 2026.

MORE: Deion Sanders Bolsters Colorado Secondary with Transfer Cornerback

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Colorado's Long Shot 2026 Title Odds

Sep 6, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) before the game against the Delaware Fightin Blue Hens at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Colorado has odds of +50000 to win the national championship next season. While it's obviously an unrealistic goal considering the Buffs only won three games in 2025, there's more of a path for quick turnarounds in college football nowadays. In Deion's first year as coach in Boulder, Colorado went 4-8. They very next season, they won nine games.

Then there are the Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana was arguably the worst power conference program in the country just two seasons ago. They hired former James Madison coach Curt Cugnetti and everything changed. Heading into 2025, Indiana had betting odds of +10000 to win the national championship. They went 16-0, winning their first national title in program history on Monday night.

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti prepares to lift the trophy on the podium after the College Football Playoff National Championship college football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Miraculous turnarounds like this are possible in college football. Will Colorado be able to write their own turnaround story in 2026?

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.