Colorado’s 2026 schedule has a few games that jump off the page, but the most fascinating ones all come with real questions attached. That’s what makes this season so compelling for Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes: the matchups aren’t just tough, they could help shape where the program goes next.
The earliest one worth circling comes on Sept. 26, when Colorado heads to Texas to face Baylor and coach Dave Aranda. The spotlight in that game lands squarely on the quarterbacks, with Colorado’s Julian Lewis set to go against Baylor’s DJ Lagway.
Lewis enters the year with plenty to prove. As a redshirt freshman, he’s being asked to take over the program while learning a new offense under offensive coordinator Brennan Marion.
Last season, Lewis showed flashes in limited action, finishing with 589 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 55.3 percent completion rate across four games, including two starts. If he can settle into Marion’s system quickly, Colorado could find real consistency on offense.
Lagway brings a different set of concerns into the matchup. His time at Florida was marked by injury issues and turnover trouble, with 23 interceptions over the past two seasons.
Baylor needs those problems cleaned up early, because if they linger, the Bears could find themselves in a difficult spot before the season really gets going. In a game like this, the quarterback who handles the pressure better could be the one who walks away with the win.
A few weeks after that, Colorado gets Utah at home in another game that should tell us plenty. Last season’s meeting in Utah was a rough one for the Buffaloes, who fell 53-7. The Utes controlled that game on the ground, piling up 422 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns while backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin kept leaning into Colorado’s biggest weakness.
That weakness showed up all season long. Colorado gave up 222.5 rush yards per game in 2025, which ranked 135th nationally.
To address it, the Buffaloes have added pieces through the transfer portal and turned to Chris Marve as their new defensive coordinator after Robert Livingston left for the NFL. Marve brings prior defensive coordinator experience from Virginia Tech, and his defenses were built around violence, physicality, aggressiveness, and the ability to adapt to different offensive looks.
Utah has gone through changes too. Coach Kyle Whittingham left to become the new head coach at Michigan after Morgan Scalley was named the next head coach of the Utes. With both teams adjusting, this rematch has the feel of a game that will be decided up front.
The late-season trip to Arizona State might be the one with the most moving parts. It comes at a point in the year when Big 12 positioning and bowl eligibility could both be in play, and it also marks Colorado’s first game against wide receiver Omarion Miller since he transferred out of Boulder after the 2025 season.
That alone gives the matchup extra weight, but the setting matters too. It’s a road test in one of the tougher environments in the Big 12, and it will ask plenty of Colorado’s focus and execution.
Arizona State, under coach Kenny Dillingham, has already shown it can play with anyone in the league. The Sun Devils won the conference in 2024 and handed Texas Tech its only loss in 2025, doing it in Tempe.
Still, Arizona State has a major question of its own after losing quarterback Sam Leavitt to the transfer portal. Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley is now the one expected to step in and deliver. With both teams carrying uncertainty into the game, it has the ingredients to become a late-season showdown with real bowl implications.
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Coach Prime Still Has One Massive Colorado Decision To Make
Colorados roster has plenty of new faces and a fresh coaching staff heading into the 2026 season, but the biggest questions are still the old familiar kind: who starts, and where. Deion Sanders and his staff have spent the offseason trying to sort out the pieces after adding talent through transfers, and fall camp is expected to bring the first real answers on several spots that will shape how competitive this team can be.
The uncertainty is especially noticeable on defense and up front, where the Buffaloes still need to settle a second cornerback next to Cree Thomas and find the best five-man combination on the offensive line. Those decisions can quietly define a season, and Colorado is approaching camp with enough options to feel hopeful, but not enough clarity to feel settled. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Ramsey Just Gave Deion Sanders And Colorado A Huge Endorsement
Jalen Ramseys visit to Colorados leadership retreat gave Deion Sanders another high-profile voice in the room, and it came at a useful time for a program trying to reset the tone after a difficult season. The NFL cornerback spoke to Buffaloes players during the retreat and made clear that Sanders was a major influence on the way he learned to play, which is the kind of endorsement that still carries real weight with a college roster trying to find its edge.
For Colorado, the message mattered because Sanders has already shown he can shape defensive backs into NFL-caliber players, and Ramseys presence only reinforced that reputation. The retreat was designed to build leadership inside the locker room, and hearing from a player of Ramseys stature gave the Buffaloes a reminder of what Sanders can mean beyond the sideline, even if the bigger question for this group is how quickly that message turns into something steadier on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Is Suddenly Winning A Recruiting Fight Fans Know Well
Colorados 2027 recruiting work is starting to look a lot more like the kind of class that can change the conversation around the program. The Buffaloes are up to No. 35 nationally in the latest 247Sports team rankings, a clear step forward from where the 2026 group finished, and theyve done it with 19 verbal commitments already in the fold. Four of those pledges carry four-star status, a sign that Deion Sanders and his staff are not just filling numbers but landing players with real upside.
The bigger takeaway for Colorado is how often it has been able to stay in the fight for names that matter, even when the process does not go perfectly. The Buffs have taken some hits on the trail, but they have also answered with key commitments that keep the class in the Big 12s upper tier, according to national outlets. The next question is whether this momentum can hold through the rest of the cycle, because the difference between a good class and a program-shifting one is usually decided in the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]