Colorado – Nebraska football rivalry The Colorado – Nebraska football rivalry was an American college football rivalry between the Buffaloes of the University of Colorado and Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska . The two teams first played in 1898 , but the rivalry intensified in the mid - 1980s as Colorado improved under head coach Bill McCartney . It was somewhat consolidated with the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 , which placed the two universities in the same six - team division and ended Nebraska ' s annual matchup with Oklahoma . The intensity of this rivalry was often disputed ; while Colorado generally viewed Nebraska as its biggest rival , the feeling was not necessarily mutual as Nebraska still generally viewed Oklahoma as their historically significant rival , even though they now played the Sooners every other regular season . After the formation of the Big 12 , the CU - NU game was traditionally played on the Friday afternoon following Thanksgiving , nationally televised on ABC . In the Big 8 , this time slot was often used for the Nebraska – Oklahoma game . ( Oklahoma now plays in - state rival Oklahoma State at the end of the regular season in the Bedlam Series . ) Series history . Colorado and Nebraska met seven times by 1907 , then took a 41 - year hiatus until Colorado joined Nebraska in the Big Seven Conference in 1948 . From 1948 through 1961 , the Buffaloes had the upper hand with a 9 – 4 – 1 ( ) record against the Huskers . After their 7 – 0 road victory in Lincoln in 1961 , Colorado gained their only overall edge in the series . With the arrival of Bob Devaney in 1962 , Nebraska emerged from nearly two decades of mediocrity ( and seven consecutive losing seasons ) and returned as a national power in the mid - 1960s , followed by consecutive national titles in 1970 and 1971 . Devaney won his first five against Colorado and was 10 – 1 ( ) ; successor Tom Osborne won his first thirteen games against CU , with a final record of 21 – 3 – 1 ( ) . Since Devaney took over in 1962 , NU holds a 40 – 8 – 1 ( ) advantage in the series with the Buffaloes . When McCartney was hired by Colorado in 1982 , he almost immediately designated Nebraska as Colorado ' s primary rival , in an attempt to motivate his team . Nebraska at that time was a perennial powerhouse program and had defeated Colorado fourteen times in a row , and McCartney wanted to use the eventual defeat of Nebraska as a measure of Colorado ' s success . Four years later , Colorado got their first win over NU since 1967 , a stunning 20 – 10 upset of # 3 Nebraska . It was the first win over the Huskers at Folsom Field in Boulder since 1960 . Colorado then began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s , following their 1986 upset win , and then surpassed the Cornhuskers for the Big 8 Championship in 1989 . Colorado traveled to Nebraska ' s Memorial Stadium to again play for the Big 8 Championship in 1990 , and the Buffaloes won 27 – 12 en route to their first national championship . McCartney ' s overall record in the rivalry game was 3 – 9 – 1 ( ) . Successor Rick Neuheisel was winless against Nebraska in four attempts , while Gary Barnett was 3 – 4 ( ) . The 19 – 19 tie in 1991 was the last recorded by Nebraska . Overtime was introduced to Division I - A for the bowls of the 1995 season and adopted for regular season play in 1996 ; to date they have played one contest decided in overtime , a 33 – 30 Nebraska victory in 1999 . Historically , the series was mostly one - sided , with Nebraska winning nearly three out of every four matchups . However , the last two decades had been very competitive with many matchups decided by a touchdown or less . From 1988 to 1996 , both teams were ranked in the top 25 going into the matchup , and in 5 of those meetings both teams were in the top 10 . In 1989 and 1994 , Colorado went into the game # 2 and Nebraska went into the game # 3 , with Colorado and Nebraska splitting those games . Between 1996 and 2000 , Nebraska won all five meetings by 15 points combined . Nebraska won all nine games from 1992 to 2000 , with 3 national championships . More fire fueled the rivalry in 2001 when Nebraska went into Boulder , ranked # 1 in the BCS and undefeated . Colorado was # 15 with one conference loss , making this the Big 12 North championship . Colorado shocked the nation with a 62 – 36 drubbing of Nebraska and won the Big 12 championship against Texas the following week . Nebraska eventually went to the National Championship Game despite the loss , but Colorado was only a point behind Nebraska in the BCS poll . The decade started with Colorado winning 3 of 4 , and ended with Nebraska taking 5 of 6 . Starting with CU ' s streak - breaking victory in 1986 through 2010 , Colorado posted a 7 – 17 – 1 ( ) record against Nebraska . The series was effectively disrupted by the 2010 – 13 NCAA conference realignment , when both teams left the Big 12 before the 2011 season . Colorado joined the Pac - 12 Conference and Nebraska went to the Big Ten Conference . Each team now plays border rivals in the opposite direction . Nebraska faces the Iowa Hawkeyes on the Friday following Thanksgiving , also on ABC ; Colorado has revived a decades - dormant rivalry with the Utah Utes the same day . It was announced in February 2013 that the Cornhuskers and Buffaloes will renew the rivalry in 2018 in Lincoln , and then will return to Boulder in 2019 . Nebraska will again go to Colorado in 2023 and then host the Buffaloes in 2024 to finish out a four game contract . As non - conference games , they will likely be scheduled early in the season . Game results . " Colorado victories are shaded in gold . < br > Nebraska victories are shaded in red . "