Colorado vs. North Dakota State: The history of the Buffaloes and Bison

The history of what both teams represent in the first-ever meeting

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Buffaloes kick off the 2024 season and second under Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders tomorrow night at home against the North Dakota State Bison before a national ESPN television audience.

These are two different squads starting with understanding bison and buffalo are not the same animal. They’re related but different. Bison and buffalo are in the Bovidae family, but there are distinct differences. A bison has a large hump at its shoulders, not so for the buffalo. Bison also have larger heads and beards and also shed their thick coats in spring and early summer. One more distinguishing difference? The horns. A buffalo’s horns resemble a handlebar mustache while bison's are shorter and sharper.

In the 1800’s, millions of bison roamed America’s northern plains but in an effort to cut off the food supply and livelihood of Native Americans, the U.S. government began slaughtering the animals. Today, about 30,000 American bison survive in conservation herds. Another approximately 500,000 are managed commercially as livestock.

What about the football prowess of buffaloes from the University of Colorado and bison from North Dakota State? The differences are more dramatic than humps, heads and horns. Since 2011, the Bison are 149-12 and have won seven national championships at the FCS level. The Buffaloes since then? 52-102 under five different coaches. Granted, we’re talking about one program operating at the FBS level and the other having great success at the FCS level. Apples and oranges.

The Bison have a new head coach in Tim Polasek. A former college quarterback at Concordia University in Wisconsin, Polasek cut his coaching teeth under current Wyoming coach Craig Bohl, first at NDSU and the later as offensive coordinator for the ‘Pokes under Bohl before returning to Fargo after being named the school’s 32nd head coach last December. Another former Bison head coach, Chris Klieman, is head coach at Big 12 rival Kansas State. The Wildcats are expected to contend for a conference title in CU’s return to the conference which now boasts 16 schools.

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NDSU recruits heavily from Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities area and lures athletes from traditional Big Ten schools like the University of Minnesota and Wisconsin forgo because they are deemed not big, fast or strong enough to compete in the super conference. However, NDSU has produced two quarterbacks recently drafted in the first-round of the NFL Draft: Carson Wentz was the second-overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and currently a backup to Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs. Dallas Cowboy backup quarterback Trey Lance was the third overall pick in the 2021 draft by San Francisco.

The Buffs have not ever had a quarterback drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. That should change this season with Shedeur Sanders projected to go early. The 6’2” senior would be the first CU signal-caller drafted since Koy Detmer back in 1997.

Odds makers have the Buffs currently a double-digit favorite but everyone inside the Colorado locker room knows the Bison have a penchant for scoring big upsets, including beating Iowa and Iowa State on the road in the past decade.

This is not an easy task for a Colorado team with an entirely new offensive line and revamped defense that was one of the worst in college football last season in yards allowed and points surrendered. The Bison have a talented quarterback of their own in Cam Miller. The senior is a dual threat. The Iowa native has a 31-9 record as NDSU's starting quarterback, has made 38 consecutive starts in leading the Bison to a national championship in 2021, a runner-up finish in 2022, and the national semifinals in 2023.

Road games at Nebraska and Colorado State follow this dangerous season opener for Prime and his revamped roster. Colorado is still trying to find its way to restoring the pride and tradition of CU football. The Bison are trying to keep theirs intact. Buffaloes normally live in warmer climates than bison. It’s gonna get downright toasty in Boulder if the Buffs stumble. No heads, horns and humps about it.