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The September 7 matchup between Colorado and Nebraska will be the last time the bitter football foes meet for the foreseeable future, and with CU joining a revamped Big 12 this season, the Buffs need a new school to hate. Here, four ways you can select an in-conference team to swear allegiance against.
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1. The CU-Nebraska feud dates to the ’80s, when former Buffs coach Bill McCartney decided his program needed a lightning rod to focus its enmity. He chose the Huskers because they were great. Best candidate: Utah. The NCAA awarded a national championship to Utah after it went 13-0 in ’08, making the Utes the new Big 12’s most recent titleholder. This year, the Utes were number nine in at least one preseason poll.
2. Conference realignment has diluted the importance of regional rivalries, but it’s still good to position yourself against a neighbor because, as anyone who lives in an HOA can attest, proximity breeds contempt Best candidate: BYU. Provo, Utah, is only 492 miles from Boulder—plus, we’re sick of Utahans thinking they have better powder than us.
3. With their giant corncob hats and bless-your-heart Midwest naiveté, Huskers made for easy targets. Although this could be misconstrued as bullying, it just makes sense to select a nemesis who provides rich material for College GameDay signs. Best candidate: West Virginia. We like the Mountaineers here because the only thing as absurd as an adult wearing a corncob hat is an adult wearing a coonskin cap.
4. McCartney outlawed Nebraska red at Folsom Field. He even divined a rallying cry that still inspires the Buffs faithful— “Better Dead Than Red.” Best candidates: Iowa State, Houston, or Texas Tech. If we redirect our ire at one of these squads, we won’t have to change the chant—or our wardrobe choices.
