1996 Colorado Buffaloes football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 33–21 vs. Washington
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	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 →

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

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.

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

Roster

1996 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`14`	Koy Detmer	Sr
WR	`21`	Rae Carruth	Sr
G	`62`	Chris Morgan	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
SS	`6`	Ryan Black	Jr
LB	`16`	Matt Russell	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

v t e Colorado Buffaloes football
Venues	Campus fields (1890–1901) Gamble Field (1901–1924) Folsom Field (1924–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colorado State: Rocky Mountain Showdown Kansas State Nebraska Utah: Rumble in the Rockies
Culture & lore	Ralphie the Buffalo "CU Fight Song" "Golden Buffalo" Marching band Fifth Down Game Miracle at Michigan
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold