CU Boulder football fans say comeback season is a ‘coin flip’

After three years of mixed results under Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, CU Boulder football fans are entering the 2026 season with a different kind of hope: cautious, conditional and a little bruised.

“I’m pretty excited,” said CU student Haakon Valberg. “I don’t have my hopes super high, but I’m excited. We could lose every game and I’d still go to a couple.”

Colorado football went 4-8 in Sanders’ first season, surged to 9-4 in 2024 and then fell to 3-9 in 2025. The Buffs open the 2026 season on Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech before returning to Folsom Field for their home opener Sept. 12 against Weber State.

That uneven arc has left fans somewhere between loyalty and realism. Respected football analyst Phil Steele ranked Colorado No. 62 out of 138 teams in his preseason rankings for 2026, and ESPN ranked the Buffs 15th out of 16 teams in the Big 12.

“That ranking is fair,” Valberg said. “They didn’t have a good season last year, but I think we’re a little better than that. But I could see us being worse or better than that, which is why I’m excited to see where we can go. It’s really a coin flip.”

Student interest will be tested early. The CU Athletics Sports Pass, which provides eligible undergraduate students with access to football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball home games, increased by $20 this year and now costs $265. Unlike in previous years, the first wave of sports passes did not sell out immediately after they went on sale. The second wave of student sports passes goes on sale Aug. 19.

Ryland Scholes, editor-in-chief and lead reporter for the CU sports outlet The Ralphie Report, as well as a production manager for Bucket List Community News, believes the program has reached a point where mere interest will not suffice.

“There’s already been a lot of institutional change in terms of the football team this year,” Scholes said. “I think that tangible results are necessary. They’re valuing experience and production more than they have in the past … they need to win games.”

Some of that change is on the sideline. CU has a new athletic director in Fernando Lovo, who replaced Rick George, as well as new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Brennan Marion is the Buffs’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, while Chris Marve is defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

“The offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, is making a significant change in terms of identity,” Scholes said. “He runs one of the most unique offenses in the country in the Go-Go offense. That is going to be a huge part of this team’s identity. They’re going to keep their foot on the gas the entire game. They’re going to be making split-second decisions the entire game to try to pick you apart.”

The changes are not limited to football strategy. In a sit-down with Daily Camera, Lovo discussed his to-do list a few months after taking over as athletic director. Near the top was pursuing naming rights for Folsom Field and the CU Events Center, a move that could help address the athletic department’s projected $27 million budget deficit.

The CU Events Center was previously known as the Coors Events Center until 2018, when the naming-rights agreement expired and Coors declined to extend the deal. Folsom Field, which opened as Colorado Field in 1924 and was renamed for coach Fred Folsom in 1944, has never had a corporate naming sponsor.

“CU has been playing in that stadium for 103 years,” Scholes said. “Folsom Field needs to be an integral part of the name and identity of the field forever. But in terms of being as successful as we possibly can as an athletic department, I think that getting creative with revenue sources is incredibly important.”

Any naming-rights deal would likely be delicate for fans attached to the stadium’s history. But the possibility gestures to a larger reality facing CU athletics: the department needs revenue, wins and renewed buy-in at the same time.

On the field, Colorado has also brought in new players expected to help stabilize the roster, including Boo Carter, Bo Hughley, Gideon Lampron and Demitrius Hunter. The quarterback room includes redshirt freshman Julian Lewis, sophomore Isaac Wilson and freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne.

“The hype is still there this year,” said athletics department photographer Ryan Asaro. “JuJu [Julian Lewis] had a good end of season; he had some good plays. I’ve definitely seen pressure on Deion from students this year. People start leaving by halftime when we lose a bunch of games.”

Sanders has moved the team off campus for the first week of fall camp, with practices beginning Aug. 2 at Fountain-Fort Carson High School before the Buffs return to Boulder. The move is intended to cut down on distractions and build team chemistry.

The game-day experience will also have a familiar draw. Ralphie VII, known as Brandy, will begin her second season running for the Buffs after replacing Ralphie VI, Ember, in 2025. Colorado’s 2026 home schedule includes Homecoming on Oct. 3 against Texas Tech, Family Weekend on Oct. 17 against Utah and Senior Day on Nov. 28 against UCF.

For students and fans, that pageantry still matters, even after a disappointing season.

“Ralphie’s a pretty big deal,” Asaro said. “Students always seem to be pretty happy about the buffalo. Towel games are cool. You look up and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this is going insane.’ Having a crowd’s a big deal for the team trying to compete because it definitely adds motivation. It’s always cool to see the crowd engaged.”