Next meeting 2017 Meetings total 88 | Trophy Centennial Trophy | |
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First meeting February 10, 1893
Colorado 70, Colorado State 6 Latest meeting September 2, 2016
Colorado 44, Colorado State 7 All-time series Colorado leads, 64–22–2 | ||
The Rocky Mountain Showdown is an American college football rivalry between the Colorado Buffaloes football team of the University of Colorado and Colorado State Rams football team of Colorado State University. The winner of the game receives the Centennial Cup. It began in 1893 and was played annually from 1899–1958, except for 1901, 1905, and 1943–44. It was revived in 1983 and played periodically until it was cemented as an annual rivalry in 1995.
Since 1998, the game has usually been played in Denver, Colorado, at Mile High Stadium and its replacement, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, although the 2004, 2005 and 2009 games were played at Folsom Field in Boulder. Sports Authority Field at Mile High is considered neutral ground for both teams and has a greater capacity than either university's home stadium (Folsom Field and Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium). This is especially true of Hughes Stadium, which has less than half the capacity of Sports Authority Field, and seats approximately 20,000 fewer than Folsom Field. Since the annual game was renewed in 1995, it has been played only once at Hughes Stadium, in 1996.
In August 2009, both universities agreed to extend the Showdown until 2020, with the 2010–19 games all to be played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The game was played in Boulder as planned in 2009, and CSU will have the option of returning the series to its new stadium in Fort Collins in 2020. In 2015, Colorado athletic director Rick George stated that he wanted to return the series to campus sites, but that it was not in Colorado's best interest to extend the series.