Football: Kickoff Times, TV Announced For First Three Games
BOULDER — The University of Colorado now knows its game times and television arrangements for the first three football games this fall, as the Pac-12 Conference on Thursday released the information for 43 games for the upcoming 2021 football season.
Colorado's season opener on Friday, Sept. 3 against the Northern Colorado Bears will be televised nationally by the main Pac-12 Network; kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. MDT at Folsom Field in Boulder. UNC did not play a 2020 schedule, and the game will be the debut of its new head coach, Ed McCaffrey. It will be the 15th straight year that CU's season opener is available on a national televised basis, and for the 33rd of the last 34 seasons. Dating back to the 1989 opener against Texas on Labor Day night, the only game not available was the 2006 lid-lifter against Montana State.
Colorado will then host Texas A & M in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff in Denver at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday, Sept. 11, with FOX broadcasting the game. The two last met when both were members of the Big 12 Conference in 2009, though the series was scheduled to resume last year in College Station but the game was canceled due to the pandemic. The Aggies carry an 8-game winning streak into the 2021 season, going 9-1 last fall with their only loss to eventual national champion Alabama; A&M opens at home against Kent State on Sept. 4.
The Buffaloes leads the series with A&M by a 6-3 count, though the schools have split the last four in defending their home fields. CU is 54-35-3 overall in games played in Denver, 26-11-1 against teams from other cities or states and 28-24-2 versus schools or teams based in the city.
The last non-conference game is the next Saturday (Sept. 18), when the Buffaloes host the University of Minnesota at Folsom. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. MDT, with the Pac-12 Network to televise the contest. It will be the fourth-ever meeting with the Gophers, as CU leads the series, 3-0. The Gophers were 3-4 last fall, with two of the setbacks coming in overtime. Minnesota opens the season at home against Ohio State on Sept. 2, and then hosts Miami-Ohio the week prior to traveling to Boulder.
In addition, the regular season finale at Utah on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 26) will be televised on either FOX or FS-1, with the kickoff time to be either 2, 2:30 or 6:00 p.m. (both to be determined 12 days ahead of the game).
The Pac-12 Conference opener for the Buffaloes will be at Arizona State on Saturday, Sept. 25, the first weekend of the season where Saturday game times will be announced usually 12 days in advance, though on occasion it can be as few as six days. The ASU game, per school policy due to hot September weather, must be a night game. All remaining games are on the selection menu of the Pac-12's television partners, ESPN-ABC, FOX Sports-FS-1 and the Pac-12 Networks.
TICKET INFORMATION: Season tickets are on sale now for the 2021 home schedule in Boulder, which also provides an opportunity to purchase tickets for the Texas A&M game in Denver. Season tickets are available on-line at CUBuffs.com or by phone (303-492-8337). Single game tickets for the Sept. 11 Texas A&M game are currently available only to season ticket holders; they will be available to the general public beginning June 15. Single game tickets to all other games (home and away) will be available starting July 7. The popular 3-Game Flex Plan will be available starting June 22.
2021 COLORADO FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| 2020 | 2021 | |||||||
| Date | Opponent | TV | Time (MT) | Record | Meeting | Last Meeting | Series | Last 10 |
| SEPT. 3 | NORTHERN COLORADO (N) | P12N | 7:00 p.m. | N/A | 23rd | 2017 (W, 41-21) | 10- 2-0 | (9-1) |
| Sept. 11 | Texas A & M (in Denver) | FOX | 1:30 p.m. | 9-1 | 10th | 2009 (W, 35-34) | 6- 3-0 | (.…) |
| SEPT. 18 | MINNESOTA | P12N | 11:00 a.m. | 3-4 | 4th | 1992 (W, 21-20) | 3- 0-0 | (….) |
| Sept. 25 | *at Arizona State (N) | tba | TBA | 2-2 | 12th | 2019 (W, 34-31) | 3- 8-0 | (3-7) |
| OCT. 2 | *SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | tba | TBA | 5-1 | 15th | 2019 (L, 31-35) | 0-14-0 | (0-10) |
| OCT. 16 | *ARIZONA (Family Weekend) | tba | TBA | 0-5 | 24th | 2020 (W, 24-13) | 15- 8-0 | (3-7) |
| Oct. 23 | *at California | tba | TBA | 1-3 | 11th | 2018 (W, 21-33) | 4- 6-0 | (4-6) |
| Oct. 30 | *at Oregon | tba | TBA | 4-3 | 23rd | 2019 (L, 3-45) | 9-13-0 | (3-7) |
| NOV. 6 | *OREGON STATE (Homecoming) | tba | TBA | 2-5 | 12th | 2018 (L, 34-41) | 5- 6-0 | (5-5) |
| Nov. 13 | *at UCLA | tba | TBA | 3-4 | 17th | 2020 (W, 48-42) | 5-11-0 | (4-6) |
| NOV. 20 | *WASHINGTON | tba | TBA | 3-1 | 20th | 2019 (W, 20-14) | 6-12-1 | (2-8) |
| Nov. 26 | *at Utah | FOX/FS-1 | 2,2:30 or 6 p.m. | 3-2 | 68th | 2020 (L, 21-38) | 32-32-3 | (2-8) |
| Dec. 3 | Pac-12 Championship (at Las Vegas) | ABC | 6:00 p.m. |
BYE WEEK: Oct. 9. *—Pac-12 Conference game. (N)—night game. tba—to be announced (games on the selection menu of ESPN-ABC/FOX Sports-FS1/Pac-12 Networks; most arrangements will be announced up to 12 days in advance). RADIO: All games locally on the CU Football Network.