CU, Georgia Agree To Football Series

BOULDER - The University of Colorado and the University of Georgia jointly announced Tuesday an agreement to play each other on the football field for the first time in school history.

 Initiated by CU officials in anticipation of approval of a 12th game, the two schools moved quickly to schedule a home-and-home series beginning next year and concluding at the end of the decade.

 

The Buffaloes will travel to Athens to face the Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 23, 2006, with UGA to return the game at Folsom Field on October 2, 2010.

 The contract, once officially signed, will call for CU to receive $750,000 for its trip to Georgia next year; allowing for inflation with four years to elapse between games, UGA will earn $825,000 for its trip to Boulder in2010.  Each team will receive 5,000 tickets as the road team; officials in 2006 will be from the SEC and in 2010 from the Big 12.

 

It will be the largest payout CU has ever received for a regular season road game, topping the $600,000 it received for past games at Michigan and Florida State. 

 

"This series with Georgia is significant for several reasons," CU athletic director Mike Bohn said.  "Outside of the obvious in that we get to play in a great venue in Athens and in turn bring a quality opponent to Folsom Field, we have a large and active alumni base in the Atlanta area, and it was fortuitous to add a quality road game in 2006 when we already have six games in Boulder and a seventh in Denver in the Colorado State game." 

 

Bohn said that including television dollars, the game next year could result in anywhere from $1.1 to 1.3 million in revenue for the athletic department.

CU & THE SEC: The Buffs have played just 10 games against Southeastern Conference schools, owning a 2-7-1 all-time record.  The two wins were significant: a 47-33 win over Alabama in the '69 Liberty Bowl, and a 31-21 win at Louisiana State to open the '71 campaign, starting Eddie Crowder's Buffs on their way to a 10-2 season and No. 3 final ranking.  In 1990, No. 5 CU opened the year with a 31-31 tie with No. 8 Tennessee in the Disneyland Pigskin Classic; the Buffs went on to finish 11-1-1 and claim the national championship.  Six of the 10 games have been against LSU.  CU last played an SEC team in 1991, when Alabama rallied for a 30-25 win in the Blockbuster Bowl.  UGA will be only the fifth school Colorado will play from the SEC, barring an SEC opponent in a bowl game this year (1-1 vs. Alabama, 1-5 vs. LSU, 0-0-1 vs. Tennessee, 0-1 vs. Auburn).

 

CU-UGA HISTORY: Though the two schools sometimes cross paths in non-revenue sports, there have been memorable games on the basketball court.  Unfortunately for CU, UGA has administered some heartbreakers.  Most notably, in 1995, the Bulldogs rallied from 10 points down with 5:08 left to defeat Ceal Barry's Buffaloes, 82-79, in the Elite Eight in Des Moines.  It was the closest CU has come to earning a Final Four berth.  In men's play, Georgia leads the series by a 5-1 count, as the two have met six times since 1991, but the last time was devastating, as UGA's Jonas Hayes hit a half-court three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining for a 71-70 win in Boulder in 2002.  CU leads 3-2 in women's volleyball, and the two just completed a home-and-home in women's soccer, with the Buffaloes emerging with a 1-0-1 advantage.

 

FUTURE CU SCHEDULES: Colorado's immediate future football schedules:

 

2006

S  2     MONTANA STATE

S  9     Colorado State (Denver)

S16    ARIZONA STATE       

S23    at Georgia                      

S30    *at Missouri

O  7     *BAYLOR (H)

O14    *TEXAS TECH (FW)

O21    *at Oklahoma

O28    *at Kansas

N  4     *KANSAS STATE

N11    *IOWA STATE

N24    *at Nebraska

 

2007

S  1     COLORADO STATE

S  8     at Arizona State

S15    at North Carolina

S22    FLORIDA STATE  

S29    *OKLAHOMA (H)

O  6     *at Baylor

O13    *at Kansas State

O20    *KANSAS (FW)

O27    *at Texas Tech

N  3     *MISSOURI

N10    *at Iowa State

N23    *NEBRASKA

 

2008

A30    Colorado State (Denver)

S  6     HOME TBA

S13    NORTH CAROLINA

S20    at Florida State

Big 12 Games

(October 4-on; dates TBA)

IOWA STATE

KANSAS STATE

OKLAHOMA STATE

TEXAS

at Kansas

at Missouri

at Nebraska

at Texas A & M

 

2009

S  5     Colorado State (Ft. C/Den)

S12    HOME/Road TBA

S19    HOME/Road TBA

S26    NORTH TEXAS

Big 12 Games

(October 3-on; dates TBA)

KANSAS

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

TEXAS A& M

at Iowa State

at Kansas State

at Oklahoma State

at Texas

 

2010

S  4     COLORADO STATE

S11    at California

S18    TBA

O  2     GEORGIA

Big 12 Games

(October 9-on; dates TBA)

BAYLOR

IOWA STATE

KANSAS STATE

TEXAS TECH

at Kansas

at Missouri

at Nebraska

at Oklahoma

 

FW?Family Weekend

HC?Homecoming