The Bronze Boot has been fought over since 1968, and this year it doubles as a season-opening referendum on two brand-new-look programs.
Bush’s Picks
WYOCSU
WYOCSU
OverUnder
Best BetWyoming
Wyoming brings back a top-30 scoring defense while Colorado State is breaking in a brand-new coach and an unsettled quarterback room. In a season opener, the team with defensive continuity and less roster turnover is the safer bet to just win the football game.
Wyoming
+Top-30 scoring defense returns largely intact
+Leads recent series 46-33 since 1946
−Finished 4-8, missed bowl eligibility again
−Starting QB job still undecided this camp
Colorado State
+Jim Mora rebuilt UConn into a bowl program
+Fresh start after firing coach mid-season
−Went just 2-10 in 2025
−Three-way QB battle with no proven starter
This is the 58th meeting for the Bronze Boot, and the rivalry itself dates back to 1899 — 80 straight seasons of these two lining up against each other. But 2026 changes the stakes. Colorado State is leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12, which turns this Border War into a non-conference grudge match for the first time in decades. Wyoming still leads the recent stretch 46-33 since 1946, even though CSU holds the all-time series edge. Neither program is walking in with momentum, which makes Saturday, September 5 a legitimate gut-check for both fan bases.
Wyoming stumbled to a 4-8 finish in 2025, closing on a four-game losing streak that knocked the Cowboys out of bowl eligibility for a second straight year. Jay Sawvel is back for year 3 anyway, and the fix starts under center, where transfer Tyler Hughes — an All-CAA performer at William & Mary — is competing with in-state recruit Mason Drube for the job. New offensive coordinator Christian Taylor arrives from an NFL staff to try to jump-start an offense that badly needs one.
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WYO Wyoming
CSU Colorado State
Colorado State's offseason was even more dramatic. The Rams went 2-10 in 2025, got Jay Norvell fired in October, and turned to Jim Mora — fresh off rebuilding UConn into a bowl regular — to run the program's first season in the Pac-12. Mora inherits a quarterback race with no clear favorite between Darius Curry, UConn transfer Ksaan Farrar, and Oklahoma State transfer Hauss Hejny, none of whom have shown much yet. It's about as clean a slate as a program can get, for better or worse.
Wyoming Cowboys
Colorado State Rams
Recent form.
The one thing Wyoming has that Colorado State doesn't is defensive continuity. The Cowboys ranked 30th nationally in scoring defense a year ago, allowing just 20.5 points a game, and most of that unit returns. That's a real advantage against a Rams offense that's still sorting out its starting quarterback days before kickoff. If Hughes or Drube can avoid killing drives, Wyoming's D gives them a path to control this one.
Wyoming Cowboys
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Colorado State Rams
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Whoever wins keeps the boot for a full calendar year, and given how far off track both programs were last season, that trophy might be the only tangible reward either fan base gets to point to for a while. It's an ugly-duckling season opener on paper, but rivalry games have a way of not caring about records.
