Rumble in the Rockies

Rumble in the Rockies
Colorado Buffaloes
Utah Utes
First meetingOctober 3, 1903
Colorado, 22–0
Latest meetingNovember 25, 2023
Utah, 23–17
Next meetingNovember 16, 2024
in Boulder
Statistics
Meetings total70
All-time seriesUtah, 35–32–3 (.521)[1]
Largest victoryColorado: 54–0 (1951)
Longest win streakUtah, 9 (1925–1933)
Current win streakUtah, 7 (2017–present)
Map
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200km
125miles
Colorado
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Utah
Locations of Utah and Colorado

The Rumble in the Rockies, or Colorado–Utah football rivalry, is an American college football rivalry between the University of Colorado Buffaloes from Boulder and the University of Utah Utes of Salt Lake City.[2][3] After nearly five decades of dormancy, the rivalry was revived in 2011, when both joined the Pac-12 Conference.

From 1903 until 1962, Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year, a total of 57 games.[4] At that time, it was the second-most played rivalry for both teams (Utah had played Utah State 62 times;[5] Colorado had played Colorado State 61 times[6]). After the 1962 meeting, a second consecutive win by Utah, the teams stopped playing each other in football.

As part of the 2010–13 NCAA conference realignment, both Utah and Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011 and were placed in its new South Division; they met that year on Black Friday in Salt Lake. The second game since the realignment was at Boulder and was the first Black Friday college football game to be telecast by the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Prior to the resumption of the rivalry, Colorado played Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 in front of a national television audience. Before 1996 in the Big Eight, Nebraska traditionally ended its regular season with rival Oklahoma, while CU often concluded with Kansas State or Iowa State. Utah traditionally played nearby rival BYU of Provo in the heated Holy War on Thanksgiving weekend; they have met every year since 1946 except 2014, and all but three years since 1922.[when?][citation needed]

The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry went on hold when Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, while Utah's game with BYU was moved to mid-September. BYU left the Mountain West Conference to become a football independent in 2011, and joined the West Coast Conference for its other sports.

Despite the near half-century hiatus, the Colorado–Utah rivalry remains the fifth-most played rivalry in Utah's history, and the eighth-most played rivalry in Colorado's history.[7][8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference series was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "CU vs. Utah rivalry officially named "Rumble in the Rockies"". The Field House.
  3. ^ Facer, Dirk (November 25, 2016). "Ready to Rumble: Utah, Colorado have a history of hard-fought battles". Deseret News.
  4. ^ "Colorado vs Utah". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  5. ^ "Utah vs Utah St". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  6. ^ "Colorado vs Colorado St". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  7. ^ "Utah Opponents". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  8. ^ "Colorado Opponents". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2010.