Coin Toss: Is CU-CSU a true rivalry?

With the University of Colorado football team facing Colorado State this Saturday in the Rocky Mountain Showdown, some are calling the Rams CU’s little brother, others are calling them its biggest rival, and some are saying there is no rivalry to be found at all.

Co-head sports editors Jared Funk-Breay and Sam Routhier debate. Is CU vs. CSU a true rivalry game?

Jared Funk-Breay: This all depends on what you call a rivalry game. Is Colorado-Colorado State up there with the likes of Michigan-Ohio State, Red Sox-Yankees or Packers-Bears? Absolutely not. Sure those are arguably the biggest rivalries in each of those respective sports, but it’s the baseline you have to go off of.

Just look at the history. That’s what rivalries are all about. CU leads the all-time series 62-22-2, and is 17-7 in the past 24 years. Not to mention the schools didn’t even play each other from 1959-1982.

The best rivalries are the ones that contain two very good or elite teams going back and forth against each other in a relatively even battle. CU-CSU has never been that. Throughout the years Colorado has either dominated, or one or both of the teams have been poor. Colorado State’s “dominance” as Rams fans will tell you has resulted in them winning two of the last three. But these are historically bad Buffalo teams we’re talking about, although this year does seem more hopeful than seasons past.

The Showdown’s heyday was in the early 2000s. I still have memories of guys like Bradlee Van Pelt going at it when both teams were ranked. But even then it was CU that won most of the games. My point is that there has never been a time when both programs were elite or close to it exchanging wins back and forth.

Colorado State will come out and say it’s a rivalry game, and the Rams don’t like the Buffs, but CU players don’t seem as passionate about it.

Hear it from the Colorado players themselves.

“I won’t come out and say I hate them,” said junior Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau.

Senior wide receiver Nelson Spruce added, “I think most of the hatred comes from the fans toward each other.”

And keep in mind Colorado looks to be trying to end the annual game. The Buffs have nine Pac-12 games each year, leaving only three non-conference dates available (this year the NCAA gives them an exception because they traveled to Hawaii). Slotting CSU in every year gives CU little flexibility. It is for that reason the Showdown won’t happen in 2021. Instead Colorado will play Massachusetts, Texas A&M — potentially at Sports Authority Field — and Minnesota. If you ask me that’s a much more exciting schedule than this year’s.

That was a bit of an aside, but the fact that Colorado is trying to move away from the game signals that it’s not that important to them. If it was they’d try to keep it.

Sam Routhier: For me, a rivalry game comes down to passion. You cite Red Sox-Yankees as one of the marquee rivalries in sports, and as a New England native and Red Sox fan I can assure you that the Yankees do indeed suck. But aside from Boston’s recent World Series victories in 2004, 2007 and 2013, it was the Red Sox who did the sucking for 85 years.

From 1919 to 2003, the Yankees won 26 World Series’ to Boston’s resounding zero. Furthermore, overall the Yankees have won 1,138 games in the rivalry, against Boston’s 947, and on two separate occasions the Yankees beat the Red Sox 12 times in a row (1936 and 1952-53).

Despite decades of lopsided results in favor of New York, or perhaps because of those lopsided results, a fierce rivalry grew between the perennial champs and the lovable losers (I know, my inner-Bill Simmons is showing), until Dave Roberts swiped a base in 2004 and the tables were turned.

In a similar vein, Colorado and CSU carry a history of Buffalo dominance. Much like it would take Boston 191 consecutive head-to-head wins to pull even with the Yankees in the head-to-head wins, Colorado State would have to beat Colorado every year until 2056 to even the all-time record between the two teams.

That didn’t make it feel any better when CSU put the hurt on CU to the tune of a 31-17 shellacking last August though. If anything, the fact that CU has been so dominant in the past makes this an intense rivalry, because historically CU is supposed to win handily, and anything but that is a major disappointment for Colorado, and a major feather in the cap of Colorado State.

Funk-Breay: That’s an interesting comparison you make there, Sam. But I’m going to tell you why the Showdown still can’t compare to the Boston-New York rivalry.

The last 10-15 years of Red Sox-Yankees have been amazing. And it’s because both teams have been competitive against each other and won championships.

I hate to bring up the “little brother” comparison, but Colorado State was the school hating on CU first. Colorado didn’t have time to hate on the Rams when they were busy making national championship appearances and winning Big 8 Conference championships in the 1980s and 1990s.

Maybe it’s becoming a bit more of a rivalry now because the Rams have clearly outplayed the Buffs the last few years, but until CSU can do it when CU is also a powerhouse team I don’t think we have a classic rivalry on our hands.

Christian Fauria was an elite tight end for the Buffs from 1990-1994. He had some choice words to say about the “rivalry” in a CU Independent article last spring.

“I would never EVER look at CSU as a rival,” Fauria said. “That drives me nuts. It shows you where the program has gone, the fact that CSU is a rival. CSU is not a powerhouse — they’re not a team that is going to be competing for a National Championship. One of the first things that Bill McCartney (who was head coach from 1982 to 1994) did when he got to CU was find the biggest, baddest, nastiest dog on the block, which was Nebraska, and he called them out. He didn’t say ‘Oh, let’s play CSU.’”

Fauria’s remarks still stand. Colorado State will never win a national championship — as long as it’s in the Mountain West. CU’s goal, at least in the long-term, should be to be a consistently ranked team that competes for championships. If the Buffs aren’t even the best team in the state they won’t be able to accomplish that. Colorado’s aspirations have to be higher than Colorado State’s.

Routhier: Well the gloves just came off, Jared’s over here busting out quotes from all-time Buffalo greats and I’m trying to piece together coherent arguments using decade-old clips of Kevin Millar.

I agree wholeheartedly that there is another level this rivalry could go to if Colorado and Colorado State could both take a step forward and play against each other as ranked opponents or even teams in the conversation for earning spots in the College Football Playoff. But even if that day never comes, Colorado and Colorado State will remain rivals because being better than Colorado State matters to CU fans.

We’ll always have our 1990 National Championship to wave at Rams fans, as well as the all-time head-to-head record and our Power 5 conference status. But lately they’ve got a lot to wave back at us from their perch in the top third of the Mountain West.

Here are some sobering stats that you’ll probably wish I never told you: CSU has made three bowl appearances since CU last appeared in the postseason in 2007, with two of those coming in the previous two years. The Rams’ win total last season alone, 10, is as many wins as Colorado has since former Head Coach Jon Embree’s tenure began in 2011. And I know it hurts to mention this again, but the two teams have split the last six Rocky Mountain Showdowns with three wins apiece.

It almost makes you forget which school the “little brother” is supposed to be.

For any Buffs fans who are still holding out hope that we can put together a 7-6 campaign and send the Buffaloes “bowling,” this Saturday’s game against CSU is a must-win. But I think that whether or not we play in the postseason, the Rocky Mountain Showdown is a must-win because the CU-CSU rivalry is alive and well.

This weekend insults will be hurled, school pride will be showcased and another year of bragging rights will be decided over 60 minutes of America’s violent pastime. If you don’t think CU-CSU isn’t a true rivalry then you haven’t been paying close enough attention, because until Colorado is realistically in the fight for division titles and bowl appearances, the battle for supremacy in the Centennial State is the most important game of the season.

Contact CU Independent Sports Editors Jared Funk-Breay and Sam Routhier at jared.funkbreay@colorado.edu and samuel.routhier@colorado.edu.