Colorado State Football: First Look At The 2023 Schedule
The Rams look to bounce back from a tougher-than-expected 2022 season. Will the schedule cooperate with their optimism?
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Fort Air Raid regroups.
With the revelation of the Mountain West football schedule earlier this month, the Colorado State Rams now know the path before them to overcome last season’s trials by fire and make good on the potential they demonstrated throughout 2022.
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Here’s what the week-by-week schedule looks like with Bill Connelly’s preseason SP+ rankings, where Colorado State is 119th overall, in parentheses:
Saturday, September 2 – vs. Washington State (53)
Saturday, September 16 – at Colorado (94)
Saturday, September 23 – at Middle Tennessee State (93)
Saturday, September 30 – vs. Utah Tech (106th among FCS teams)
Saturday, October 7 – at Utah State (118)
Saturday, October 14 – vs. Boise State (68)
Saturday, October 21 – at UNLV (108)
Saturday, October 28 – vs. Air Force (77)
Saturday, November 4 – at Wyoming (101)
Saturday, November 11 – vs. San Diego State (80)
Saturday, November 18 – vs. Nevada (107)
Saturday, November 25 – at Hawaii (131)
What are the biggest initial takeaways?
1. No excuse not to have big crowds at Canvas.
Though the Rams won’t have to face Fresno State this year, one detail in their overall schedule is that they are one of three teams in the Mountain West who will contend with at least three of the top four squads in the conference by overall SP+. Unlike Utah State and Wyoming, however, all of Colorado State’s toughest conference opponents have to visit Fort Collins this season.
For right now, CSU is likely to be an underdog against Boise State, Air Force, or San Diego State, but stealing an October victory against either of the Broncos or Falcons could go a long way toward securing bowl eligibility.
2. Handling Beehive State business will be crucial.
Colorado State’s loss to Sacramento State may not have been too surprising in retrospect — the Hornets won an FCS playoff game for the first time last season and nearly won a second in one of the year’s wildest shootouts — so while Utah Tech doesn’t appear to be on the same level, the Rams won’t be inclined to take anything for granted.
After that, though, the Rams have a golden opportunity to get off to a 1-0 start in conference play at Utah State, another Mountain West team going through plenty of transition of their own. Sweeping both Utah games early looks like a decent way to hang around .500 before things get tougher.
3. Potential for a strong finish?
If the Rams are able to hit their stride, they might be able to enter November with a decent shot at claiming a bowl bid. The Border War with rival Wyoming is always tricky to predict, but finishing the year with a home date against Nevada (Norvell Bowl II!) and a road trip to the islands should be a very manageable two-game stretch in which to find wins.
Hardest stretch: vs. Boise State, at UNLV, vs. Air Force
Easiest stretch: vs. Nevada, at Hawaii
Guaranteed wins: vs. Utah Tech
Guaranteed losses: vs. Washington State
Worse than 50/50 games: at Middle Tennessee, vs. Boise State, vs. Air Force, vs. San Diego State
50/50 games: at Colorado, at Utah State, at UNLV, at Wyoming
Better than 50/50 games: vs. Nevada, at Hawaii
Preliminary projected record: 5-7
