1972 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1972 Colorado Buffaloes football
1972 Colorado Buffaloes football
Gator Bowl, L 3–24 vs. Auburn
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. T–14
AP	No. 16
Record	8–4 (4–3 Big 8)
Head coach	Eddie Crowder (10th season);
Offensive coordinator	Kay Dalton (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Slot-I triple option
Defensive coordinator	Dan Radakovich (1st season)
Base defense	4–4
MVP	John Stearns
Captains	Cullen Bryant; Rick Kay; Chuck Mandrill;
Home stadium	Folsom Field
	Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

The 1973 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 8–3 in the regular season (4–3 in Big 8, tied for third), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

1972 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Oklahoma $	6	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Nebraska $	5	–	1	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
No. 16 Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	4	–	1	5	–	6	–	1
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion The Big 8 Conference mandated Oklahoma forfeits in three conference games, giving Nebraska the title. Oklahoma reverted this record at a later date; hence, both Oklahoma^[1] and Nebraska^[2] claim this title. Rankings from AP Poll

In the Gator Bowl, Colorado fell to sixth-ranked Auburn to finish at 8–4,^[3] and dropped to sixteenth in the final AP poll.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	California*	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 20–10	50,751
September 16	Cincinnati*	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 56–14	50,171
September 23	at Minnesota*	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 38–6	42,703
September 30	at Oklahoma State	No. 3	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		L 6–31	38,500
October 7	at Kansas State	No. 12	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		W 38–17	40,000
October 14	No. 18 Iowa State	No. 13	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 34–22	51,668
October 21	No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	W 20–14	52,022
October 28	at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, Missouri		L 17–20	55,550
November 4	No. 3 Nebraska	No. 15	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–33	52,128
November 11	Kansas	No. 16	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 33–8	50,151–50,304
November 18	at Air Force*	No. 15	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 38–7	47,191
December 30	vs. No. 6 Auburn*	No. 13	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 3–24	71,114	^[4]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

#2 Oklahoma at Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	0	7	0	7	14
• Colorado	0	0	14	6	20

^ "2018 Media Guide" (PDF). soonersports.com. Oklahoma Athletics. p. 6. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
^ "2018 Media Guide" (PDF). huskers.com. Nebraska Athletics. p. 206. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
^ "Auburn clips Colorado; East victor". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1972. p. 1B.
^ "Auburn's Tigers rip Colorado's Buffs 24–3". The Selma Times-Journal. December 31, 1972. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1972 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ "1972 Football Schedule". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ "Colorado Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 41. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

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