Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry

The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry was an American college football rivalry between the Buffaloes of the University of Colorado and Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska. The two teams first played in 1898, but the rivalry intensified in the mid-1980s as Colorado improved under head coach Bill McCartney. It was somewhat consolidated with the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, which placed the two universities in the same six-team division and ended Nebraska's annual matchup with Oklahoma.

The intensity of this rivalry was often disputed; while Colorado generally viewed Nebraska as its biggest rival, the feeling was not necessarily mutual as Nebraska still generally viewed Oklahoma as their historically significant rival, even though they now played the Sooners every other regular season. After the formation of the Big 12, the CU-NU game was traditionally played on the Friday afternoon following Thanksgiving, nationally televised on ABC. In the Big 8, this time slot was often used for the Nebraska–Oklahoma game. (Oklahoma now plays in-state rival Oklahoma State at the end of the regular season in the Bedlam Series.)

Series history
Colorado and Nebraska met seven times by 1907, then took a 41-year hiatus until Colorado joined Nebraska in the Big Seven Conference in 1948. From 1948 through 1961, the Buffaloes had the upper hand with a 9–4–1 (.670) record against the Huskers. After their 7–0 road victory in Lincoln in 1961, Colorado gained their only overall edge in the series.

With the arrival of Bob Devaney in 1962, Nebraska emerged from nearly two decades of mediocrity (and seven consecutive losing seasons) and returned as a national power in the mid-1960s, followed by consecutive national titles in 1970 and 1971. Devaney won his first five against Colorado and was 10–1 (.900); successor Tom Osborne won his first thirteen games against CU, with a final record of 21–3–1 (.860). Since Devaney took over in 1962, NU holds a 40–8–1 (.820) advantage in the series with the Buffaloes.

When McCartney was hired by Colorado in 1982, he almost immediately designated Nebraska as Colorado's primary rival, in an attempt to motivate his team. Nebraska at that time was a perennial powerhouse program and had defeated Colorado fourteen times in a row, and McCartney wanted to use the eventual defeat of Nebraska as a measure of Colorado's success. Four years later, Colorado got their first win over NU since 1967, a stunning 20–10 upset of #3 Nebraska. It was the first win over the Huskers at Folsom Field in Boulder since 1960.

Colorado then began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s, following their 1986 upset win, and then surpassed the Cornhuskers for the Big 8 Championship in 1989. Colorado traveled to Nebraska's Memorial Stadium to again play for the Big 8 Championship in 1990, and the Buffaloes won 27–12 en route to their first national championship. McCartney's overall record in the rivalry game was 3–9–1 (.260). Successor Rick Neuheisel was winless against Nebraska in four attempts, while Gary Barnett was 3–4 (.420).

The 19–19 tie in 1991 was the last recorded by Nebraska. Overtime was introduced to Division I-A for the bowls of the 1995 season and adopted for regular season play in 1996; to date they have played one contest decided in overtime, a 33–30 Nebraska victory in 1999.

Historically, the series was mostly one-sided, with Nebraska winning nearly three out of every four matchups. However, the last two decades had been very competitive with many matchups decided by a touchdown or less. From 1988 to 1996, both teams were ranked in the top 25 going into the matchup, and in 5 of those meetings both teams were in the top 10. In 1989 and 1994, Colorado went into the game #2 and Nebraska went into the game #3, with Colorado and Nebraska splitting those games. Between 1996 and 2000, Nebraska won all five meetings by 15 points combined.

Nebraska won all nine games from 1992 to 2000, with 3 national championships. More fire fueled the rivalry in 2001 when Nebraska went into Boulder, ranked #1 in the BCS and undefeated. Colorado was #15 with one conference loss, making this the Big 12 North championship. Colorado shocked the nation with a 62–36 drubbing of Nebraska and won the Big 12 championship against Texas the following week. Nebraska eventually went to the National Championship Game despite the loss, but Colorado was only a point behind Nebraska in the BCS poll.

The decade started with Colorado winning 3 of 4, and ended with Nebraska taking 5 of 6. Starting with CU's streak-breaking victory in 1986 through 2010, Colorado posted a 7–17–1 (.300) record against Nebraska.

The series was effectively disrupted by the 2010–13 NCAA conference realignment, when both teams left the Big 12 before the 2011 season. Colorado joined the Pac-12 Conference and Nebraska went to the Big Ten Conference. Each team now plays border rivals in the opposite direction. Nebraska faces the Iowa Hawkeyes on the Friday following Thanksgiving, also on ABC; Colorado has revived a decades-dormant rivalry with the Utah Utes the same day.

It was announced in February 2013 that the Cornhuskers and Buffaloes will renew the rivalry in 2018 in Lincoln, and then will return to Boulder in 2019. Nebraska will again go to Colorado in 2023 and then host the Buffaloes in 2024 to finish out a four game contract. As non-conference games, they will likely be scheduled early in the season.

Game results
''Colorado victories are shaded in  gold. Nebraska victories are shaded in  red.''