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Friday, January 16, 2026

Boulder Ready For Take Two As College Football’s Hollywood

  • Boulder, Colorado is the epicenter of college football this weekend.
  • ESPN’s “College GameDay” and Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will both broadcast from town.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Less than a month into the season, the hottest town in college football is Boulder, Colorado.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders delivered big in his home debut against Nebraska and has started off the season 2-0 — and this weekend, everybody wants a piece of his Buffaloes.

ESPN will broadcast Colorado-Colorado State at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, in the process bringing “College GameDay” to Boulder for the first time since 1996. The hype is so big right now that Fox Sports is bringing its rival “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show to town for the second weekend in a row despite not having broadcast rights to the game this time around.

And the mania doesn’t stop there. ESPN is broadcasting “First Take” and “The Pat McAfee Show” live from Boulder on Friday, while even venerable CBS newsmagazine program “60 Minutes” is rumored to be coming to Boulder.

Tougher Foes Ahead

Saturday will be another milestone moment for the Coach Prime era, but likely not the last — No. 18 Colorado is favored to win by at least three touchdowns and could rise higher in the AP Top 25 rankings.

Next week will bring a high-profile matchup at No. 13 Oregon before Colorado welcomes Heisman Trophy front-runner Caleb Williams and No. 5 USC to Boulder on Sept. 30. The average secondary-market ticket price for Colorado home games for the remainder of the season is now a staggering $517.

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