1996 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1996 Colorado Buffaloes football
1996 Colorado Buffaloes football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 33–21 vs. Washington
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
Record	10–2 (7–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Rick Neuheisel (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Karl Dorrell (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	A. J. Christoff (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Rae Carruth
MVP	Matt Russell
Home stadium	Folsom Field
	Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team played their home games at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. They participated in the Big 12 Conference in the North Division. They were coached by head coach Rick Neuheisel.

1996 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 6 Nebraska x%	8	–	0	11	–	2
No. 8 Colorado	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 17 Kansas State	6	–	2	9	–	3
Missouri	3	–	5	5	–	6
Kansas	2	–	6	4	–	7
Iowa State	1	–	7	2	–	9
South Division
No. 23 Texas x$	6	–	2	8	–	5
Texas Tech	5	–	3	7	–	5
Texas A&M	4	–	4	6	–	6
Oklahoma	3	–	5	3	–	8
Oklahoma State	2	–	6	5	–	6
Baylor	1	–	7	4	–	7
Championship: Texas 37, Nebraska 27
x – Division champion/co-champions $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

With the bowl victory, Colorado recorded its third straight 10-win season for the first time in school history.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	1:30 pm	Washington State*	No. 5	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	W 37–19	51,481
September 7	7:00 pm	at Colorado State*	No. 5	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown)	ESPN2	W 48–34	36,371
September 14	1:30 pm	No. 11 Michigan*	No. 5	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (College GameDay)	ABC	L 13–20	53,788
September 28	1:30 pm	at Texas A&M	No. 12	Kyle Field College Station, TX	ABC	W 24–10	74,339
October 12	8:00 pm	Oklahoma State	No. 10	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	FX	W 35–13	53,005
October 19	10:30 am	at Kansas	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 20–7	48,500
October 26	1:30 pm	Texas	No. 8	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	W 28–24	51,100
November 2	12:00 pm	at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	PPV	W 41–13	34,440
November 9	12:30 pm	Iowa State	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 49–42	49,662
November 16	5:00 pm	No. 9 Kansas State	No. 6	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	FX	W 12–0	53,550
November 29	12:30 pm	at No. 4 Nebraska	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 12–17	75,695
December 30	6:00 pm	vs. No. 13 Washington*	No. 8	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 33–21	54,749
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time