Buffs, Utes Football Moved To Friday

BOULDER - The Pacific-12 Conference gave approval Tuesday for this fall's football game between the University of Colorado and University of Utah to be played on Friday, Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.

The game, originally scheduled for the next day (Saturday, Nov. 26), will be played in Salt Lake City with the kickoff time and television arrangements to be announced at a later date.  It will be the first meeting in football between the two neighboring state universities since 1962, but the 58th overall as they were original rivals the first half of the last century.

CU athletic director Mike Bohn and his Utah counterpart, Chris Hill, requested the date change.  Bohn in particular wanted to see Colorado's run of games played the Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday continue for a 16th straight year.

"The (Nebraska) game was extremely popular being played on that particular Friday," Bohn said.  "We recognize how supportive and instrumental our fans were and the role they played in creating a premium event that also turned into quality family time.  We want to maintain that connectivity.  The one constant with our schedule every year is that our fans knew we would be playing Nebraska the day after Thanksgiving."   

Colorado and Nebraska played that last Friday in November all 15 years both were members of the Big 12 Conference.  The Cornhuskers are joining the Big 10 Conference this summer, and have already secured Iowa as its opponent on the same day to continue their similar tradition.

Future schedules for the Pac-12 have not been drawn up, so it has not been determined beyond 2011 if the Buffaloes and Utes will play on that Friday, or even in the two will end the year against each other, though as designated rivals and the two newest members of the conference, that is a likely expectation.

Colorado opens the season at Hawai'i on Saturday, Sept. 3 in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2, with kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. MDT (4:15 p.m. in Honolulu).  That became official today though Hawai'i officials had released late last week.