Colorado Buffaloes The University of Colorado Boulder sponsors 17 varsity sports teams , with the addition of women ' s lacrosse , which will begin play in the spring of 2014 . Both men ' s and women ' s team are called the Buffaloes ( Buffs for short ) or Golden Buffaloes ( acceptable , but rare ) . " Lady Buffs " referred to the women ' s teams beginning in the 1970s , but was officially dropped in 1993 . The nickname was selected by the campus newspaper in a contest with a $ 5 prize in 1934 won by Andrew Dickson of Boulder . The university participates in the NCAA ' s Division I ( FBS ) in the Pacific - 12 Conference . The current athletic director is Boulder native Mike Bohn , hired on April 13 , 2005 . Colorado has won 24 national championships in its history , with 18 in skiing , including 2011 . It was ranked # 14 of " America ' s Best Sports College " in a 2002 analysis performed by " Sports Illustrated . " History . Competitive football began on the Boulder campus in 1890 . Early games , which bore more resemblance to rugby than modern football , were played against the School of Mines and Utah . The football stadium , originally named " Colorado Stadium , " was opened in 1924 and was officially named Folsom Field in November 1944 to honor Coach Fred Folsom , one of the most respected college football coaches of his day . In 1934 , the university ' s intercollegiate teams were officially nicknamed the " Buffaloes . " Previous nicknames used by the press included the " Silver Helmets " and " Frontiersmen . " The final game of 1934 , against the University of Denver , saw also the first running of a bison in a Colorado football game . A bison calf was rented from a local ranch and ran along the sidelines . The year 1947 marked key point in race relations on campus . The Buffaloes joined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association , commonly known as the Big Six , then to be known as the Big Seven , and later the Big Eight , of which all eight members became charter members of the Big 12 in 1996 . However , Missouri and Oklahoma had rules which would have allowed them to challenge teams with " colored " players . A student outcry , led by campus paper " Silver and Gold " , led to a movement against these Jim Crow restrictions which expanded to all the campuses of the Big 7 and eventually lead to their repeal . On June 10 , 2010 , the Buffaloes announced that they would join the Pacific - 12 Conference in all sports beginning on July 1 , 2011 , leaving the Big 12 Conference . National championships . The University of Colorado Buffaloes have won 24 team national championships , 23 NCAA titles and one AIAW championship , the women ' s predecessor to the NCAA : Conference championships . The University of Colorado Buffaloes have won 4 team conference championships since joining the Pacific - 12 Conference on July 1 , 2011 . The following is a list of the teams and years won . The CU ski teams participate in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association and have won 25 conference championships . Historically , the Buffaloes won 27 team conference championships in its time in the Big 12 Conference , from the July 1 , 1996 – June 30 , 2011 . The following is a list of the teams and years won . Varsity sports . The University of Colorado was a member of the Colorado Football Association in 1893 , and became a charter member of the Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference in 1909 , which changed its name a year later to Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference . Colorado left the RMFAC to become a charter member of the Mountain States Conference ( a . k . a . Skyline Conference ) in 1938 . CU joined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1947 , then commonly known as the Big Six , changing the common name to the Big Seven . In 1958 , the conference added OSU to became the Big Eight Conference . It remained the Big 8 until 1996 , when it combined with four member schools of the defunct Southwest Conference ( Texas , Texas A & M , Texas Tech , and Baylor ) to create the Big 12 Conference . On July 1 , 2011 , the school joined the Pacific - 12 Conference along with Utah . A total of 12 of CU ' s 16 varsity sports compete in the Pac - 12 , except the ski teams and indoor track & field teams . The ski teams participate in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association ( RMISA ) , of which is has been a member since 1947 , along with fellow Pac - 12 newcomer Utah . The indoor track & field teams will participate in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation as the Pac - 12 doesn ' t sponsor indoor track . The Colorado Buffaloes are represented in the following NCAA Division I varsity sports : Football . The Colorado football program is 16th on the all - time NCAA Division 1 win list and 22nd in all - time winning percentage ( . 614 ) . Since Folsom Field was built in 1924 , the Buffaloes have been 280 - 132 - 10 at home . The Nebraska game in 2006 was the school ' s 1100th football game . Beginning competitive play in 1890 , Colorado has enjoyed much success through its history . The team has won numerous bowl game s ( 27 appearances in bowl games ( 12 - 15 ) , 23rd ( tied ) all - time prior to 2004 season ) , 8 Colorado Football Association Championships ( 1894 – 97 , 1901 – 08 ) , 1 Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference ( 1909 ) , 7 RFMAC Championships ( 1911 , 1913 , 1923 , 1924 , 1934 , 1935 , 1937 ) , 4 Mountain States Conference Championships ( 1939 , 1942 – 44 ) , 5 Big Eight ( Six ) conference championships ( 1961 , 1976 , 1989 , 1990 , 1991 ) , 1 Big 12 conference championship ( 2001 ) , 4 Big 12 North Championships ( 2001 , 2002 , 2004 , 2005 ) , and an Associated Press National Championship in 1990 . Colorado football also has one Heisman Trophy winner : There have also been 9 unanimous All - American s : There are five players in the College Football Hall of Fame : Bill McCartney is the most famous head coach , leading Colorado to their only National Championship Title in 1990 . < br > The current head coach is Mike MacIntyre . Men ' s basketball . They play at the Coors Events Center on campus and are 345 - 155 ( . 690 ) at home , through the 2012 season . ¹ Invitations Women ' s basketball . Women ' s Basketball started at Colorado in 1975 . The team has had seven coaches and the current coach is Linda Lappe . Skiing . The CU ski team competes as a member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association , as CU is one of two members of the Pac - 12 along with Utah that competes in skiing . Colorado is one of the dominant programs in the NCAA in skiing , winning 17 NCAA Championships , most recently in 2011 . The Buffs also have one AIAW championship for 18 total national championships . The Buffs had finished second at the national championships the past three seasons , prior to winning the title in 2011 , and finished third behind Utah by just one point in 2012 . The Buffaloes have won 25 RMISA championships , most recently in 2011 . The Buffaloes have had 50 individuals connected to the school participate in the Olympics 80 times . Colorado has had 84 individual NCAA Champions , including Adam Zika in the giant slalom in 2012 , CU ' s first GS winner in 17 years . Cross Country . Being at such a high altitude helps the runners in training . Colorado has won three NCAA Men ' s Cross Country Championship s ( 2001 , 2004 , and 2006 ) and two NCAA Women ' s Cross Country Championship s ( 2000 and 2004 ) . The men ' s team also has won three individual titles ( Adam Goucher , Jorge Torres , and Dathan Ritzenhein ) , while the women ' s side has won one ( Kara Goucher ) . The men won the first 12 Big 12 Conference Titles in the Conference ' s history and the women won 11 of the first 12 ( all but 1998 - 99 ) , with the two teams combining for 23 of the 32 championships awarded before the Buffs left the Big 12 to join the Pac - 12 in 2011 . CU swept the Cross Country championships in its first year in the Pac - 12 in 2011 and won the men ' s championship again in 2012 . Baseball . The Colorado Buffaloes baseball team was discontinued after the 1980 season . Baseball , along with men ' s and women ' s gymnastics , men ' s and women ' s swimming and women ' s diving comprised seven sports that were discontinued on June 11 , 1980 due to budget cuts . Club sports . Colorado has a very active and developed club sports system with over 30 sports . Men ' s Rugby . Colorado ' s rugby program was founded in the 1960s . The Buffaloes play in the Western Division of Division 1 - A , where they play against local rivals such as Colorado State . The Buffaloes are led by head coach Jim Snyder . The Buffaloes have consistently been ranked among the top college rugby teams in the country . Colorado ' s best run was 1984 - 1985 , when it reached the 1984 national finals before losing 12 - 4 to powerhouse Cal , and finished third in the 1985 national playoffs losing again to eventual champion Cal , this time in the semifinals . More recently , in 2008 the Buffaloes went 15 - 3 and reached the semifinals of the national collegiate championship . Colorado won the 2011 Pac - 12 rugby sevens tournament , led by tournament MVP Luke Lahman , defeating Utah 14 - 12 in the final . This tournament win qualified Colorado for the 2011 USA Rugby collegiate rugby sevens national championship . Colorado finished the 2011 - 12 season ranked 14th in the nation . Rivalries . University of Nebraska . A traditional college football rivalry with the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers restarted in the 1980s ( many historical documents show the importance of this game going back to 1898 ) when Bill McCartney declared the conference opponent to be their rival . His theory was since Nebraska was such a powerhouse team , if Colorado was able to beat them then they would be a good team . Colorado began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s , following their win over the Huskers in 1986 , and then surpassed the Huskers for the Big 8 crown in 1989 . In 1990 , Colorado beat Nebraska 27 – 12 in Lincoln for the first time in 23 years , en route to their first national championship . From 1996 – 2000 , the series was extremely competitive , with the margin of victory by NU in those five years being only 15 points combined . The rivalry was further buoyed by the introduction of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 , which moved Oklahoma & Oklahoma State to the southern division with the four new schools from Texas , formerly in the Southwest Conference . Nebraska had traditionally finished the Big 8 conference schedule with a rivalry game with Oklahoma , but the two were now in different divisions , which meant they met every other year in the regular season . Colorado replaced Oklahoma as Nebraska ' s final conference game of the regular season , which further intensified the CU - NU rivalry . In 2001 Nebraska came to Folsom Field undefeated and left at the short end of a nationally televised 62 – 36 loss . Other sports have then taken on Nebraska also as their rival . Both teams departed the Big 12 in 2011 , as NU headed east to join the Big Ten and the future of the rivalry is in doubt . Nebraska currently leads the football series against Colorado 49 – 18 – 2 . Colorado State University . Colorado ' s in - state rival is Colorado State University of the Mountain West Conference , located north of Boulder in Fort Collins . The two schools are separated by 45 miles ( 72 km ) and both consider it important and noteworthy to beat the other for bragging rights for the next year . The two football teams annually compete in the Rocky Mountain Showdown for the Centennial Cup , played in Denver and Boulder . The trophy takes its name from the state of Colorado ' s nickname of " The Centennial State . " Colorado currently leads the football series against Colorado State 59 - 20 - 2 . University of Utah . The intercollegiate rivalry with the University of Utah ran from 1903 – 62 , in which Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year ; through 1962 they had met 57 times . At the time , it was the second - most played rivalry for both teams ( Utah had played Utah State 62 times ; Colorado had played Colorado State 61 times ) . The rivalry was discontinued from 1963 – 2010 and then resumed in 2011 when both teams joined the Pac - 12 , renewing the rivalry on an annual basis . The Colorado – Utah rivalry remains the fifth - most played rivalry in Utah ' s history , and the eighth - most played rivalry in Colorado ' s history . Traditions . The University has had several fight songs that have lost and gained popularity over the years . The oldest , " Glory Colorado " , is sung to the tune of " Battle Hymn of the Republic " and has been around nearly as long as the school . Glory Colorado is considered to represent all campuses of the University . " Go Colorado " was originally sung exclusively by the Glee Club at football games , though it is now played and known almost exclusively by members of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band . The most popular of the three fight songs and the most widely recognized is " Fight CU . " Originally sung by the football team , the song has gained enough popularity that few people outside the band know that it is not the only fight song of the university . The original version included the line " fight , fight for every yard " but the line was changed to " fight , fight for victory " to allow the song to be used for all sports , not just football . Mascots . The two mascots present at all football games are Ralphie , a live buffalo , and Chip , a costumed mascot who was selected to the 2003 Capital One All - America Mascot Team and won the 2009 and 2010 UCA Mascot National Championships . Ralphie is actually Ralphie V and leads the football team onto the field at the beginning of the first and second halves . A buffalo leading the team onto the field dates as far back as 1934 and the Ralphie tradition began in 1966 . In 1934 after the selection of " Buffaloes " as a nickname when a group of students paid $ 25 to rent a buffalo calf and cowboy as his keeper for the last game of the season . The calf was the son of Killer , a famed bison at Trails End Ranch in Fort Collins , Colorado . It took the cowboy and four students to keep the calf under control on the sidelines during the game , a 7 - 0 win at the University of Denver on Thanksgiving Day . Colors . The official school colors are silver and gold , adopted in 1888 as a symbol of the mineral wealth of the state . In 1959 , the athletic teams started using black and yellow , because silver and gold ended up looking like dirty white and dirty yellow . The colors have stuck and many are unaware that the official school colors are silver and gold . On May 28 , 1981 , black was curiously replaced by " Sky Blue " by a mandate of the CU Board of Regents , to represent the color of the Colorado sky . However , this color was different than the blue uniforms of the U . S . Air Force Academy . After three years , the blue was changed in 1984 to a darker shade , though still unpopular . In black and white photographs the players ' numbers are nearly invisible . During a difficult 1 - 10 season in 1984 , football head coach Bill McCartney employed black " throwback " jerseys for an emotional lift for the games against Oklahoma and Nebraska , without success . In April 1985 , the CU athletic teams were given the option of blue or black . The football team chose to wear black , and at Folsom Field the background for the signature " Colorado " arc ( at the base of the seats behind the south end zone ) , blue for four years , was repainted black as well . On the football uniforms , the blue was reduced to a stripe on the sleeve for three seasons ( 1985 – 87 ) before being dropped completely in 1988 . In 2007 , CU debuted new football jerseys that reintegrated silver as a uniform color . University of Colorado Athletic Hall - of - Fame . Criteria for automatic selection : Three - time all - conference selection , two - time All - American , trophy winner and / or previously retired jersey .