University of Wyoming Cowboys fans considering making the drive down Interstate 25 to Boulder to watch UW play the University of Colorado are out of luck.
The Sept. 20 game between the Buffaloes and the Cowboys sold out faster than any previous Colorado home opener in recent memory. Last year, tickets to the Buffs’ Aug. 29, 2024, home opener against North Dakota State were still available 48 hours before the game.
In 2023, a much-anticipated home opener in Boulder against the Buffs’ arch rival Nebraska Cornhuskers did not sell out until late July.
Besides being a rivalry game, that game also was the home debut of CU’s superstar head coach Deion Sanders, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, who is now the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
Regional Draw
Even with all those factors, the coming Wyoming game sold out an entire month sooner. The game coincides with Colorado’s Family Weekend, which typically brings thousands of parents and family members onto campus to visit students.
“The first one is officially in the books,” CU Associate Athletic Director Curtis Snyder wrote Wednesday on the Buffs’ official website. “The Colorado Buffaloes will once again celebrate Family Weekend in front of a packed Folsom Field as the football game against Wyoming on Sept. 20 is officially sold out, the first sellout of the 2025 season.”
(We don’t even need to bring up any sellouts for Colorado before the last two seasons, as the Buffs were one of college football’s worst big conference teams for several years before “Coach Prime” got there.)
Competitive Game?
Cody Tucker, the founder of 7220Sports, a sports site that covers UW athletics, said the regional draw of both teams helps to pack the stands at Boulder’s Folsom Field.
“Plus, it’s Family Weekend,” he said.
With Colorado having lost Shedeur Sanders, Hunter, three wide receivers and a couple defensive players from last year’s roster to the NFL, the Buffs will be pitting a largely untested team against a Cowboys team that also has several new starters.
“Both teams have close to 50 new faces,” Tucker said. “I’m sure CU will be favored, and rightfully so, but who knows.”
The NCAA’s transfer portal can quickly level out playing fields, Tucker pointed out.
The Buffs and Cowboys have played 27 times since 1900, and the matchups have been one-sided. The Buffs own a 24-2-1 record against UW. The first game was Nov. 5, 1900, in Boulder. CU won that game 10-6.
The Buffs have won the last three meetings, including the last matchup in 2009 with CU dominating UW, 24-0.
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
