CU, Northwestern To Play Home-and-Home Series Next Decade

BOULDER — The University of Colorado and Northwestern University have agreed to a home-and-home series in football in the middle of the next decade, CU athletic director Rick George announced Tuesday.

Northwestern will host the first meeting in Evanston on Sept. 19, 2026, with Colorado the home team on Sept. 11, 2027.

The pair have a limited history, having split two previous games. Northwestern won the first encounter, 35-14, in Evanston in 1951, with the Buffaloes winning in Boulder, 55-7, some 27 years later in 1978.

The Buffaloes have had two games in the Midwest since leaving the Big 12 Conference, playing at Ohio State in 2011 and at Michigan last year, but have not been to the Upper Midwest since games at Illinois in 1990 and at Wisconsin in 1995 though will play at Minnesota on the back end of a home-and-home in 2022.

"This will be a great series for several reasons," said George. "Not only is it a quality match-up between two great academic and Pac-12 and Big Ten institutions, it's important for us to get to that part of the country and the Chicago area for our alumni we have there."

The schools have several interesting ties: George was born just northwest of Chicago, attended high school in the state as well as starring as a defensive back at the University of Illinois, while Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald was a graduate assistant at Colorado in 1999 under Gary Barnett, who was an assistant at CU from 1983-91 before becoming the head coach at Northwestern and turning the program around.

And current NU defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, entering his 10th season at the school, had a pair of stints as an assistant on the Colorado staff. The first was a 10-year run from 1985-94, with the last seven as defensive coordinator, which he reprised for the 2004 and 2005 seasons under Barnett.

The Buffaloes are 35-64-3 in 102 games against schools from the Big Ten Conference, though that number was inflated after Nebraska joined the league in 2011 and 69 games crossed over. CU and the Huskers will play four times (2018-19, 2023-24) in addition to the two games with Minnesota (2021-22) prior to the CU-Northwestern series. Plus, there is always the possibility Colorado could play a Big Ten team in the postseason as well.

Colorado opens its 2017 season two weeks from this Friday against Colorado State in Denver (6 p.m. kickoff, Pac-12 Network). For ticket information, visit CUBuffs.com.

CU, Northwestern To Play Home-and-Home Series Next Decade

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