Way back in the pre-historical era before the Internet, college football sometimes awarded split national championships. And in the year scholars refer to as 1990, Colorado and Georgia Tech split the crown.
The Buffaloes finished 11-1-1 (there were also ties in this era), claimed the Big 8 championship, toppled Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and won the AP national championship. The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, finished 11-0-1, won the ACC title, blew out Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl and took home the coaches’ national championship.
And that was that. There was no Playoff then, though the 1990 split title helped create the Bowl Alliance in 1992, which begat the BCS in 1998, which begat the CFP in 2014.
Until Thursday, when Colorado and Georgia Tech jointly announced a two-game series to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the split title with a home-and-home series. Georgia Tech will visit Boulder on Aug. 30, 2025, and Colorado will heat to Atlanta on Sept. 5, 2026. The games will be the first between the two programs.
Hey, @GeorgiaTechFB we'll bring our trophy if you bring yours! #GoBuffs #Just10MoreYears pic.twitter.com/Tk5td5wSG6
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) March 31, 2016
.@RunRalphieRun we'll bring our trophy and our rings! #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/VxK9q4h6eV
— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) March 31, 2016
“It’s important for us to play games in parts of the country where we can’t get to very often for our alumni bases, and we have a good one in Georgia,” CU athletic director Rick George said in a statement. “It will be a terrific high profile series, and I am sure some fans will use it to settle the bragging rights back to 1990.”
Georgia Tech last played a Pac-12 opponent in the 2012 Sun Bowl, a 21-7 win over USC. Colorado hasn’t faced an ACC opponent since Sept. 27, 2008, when the Buffs suffered a 39-21 loss to Florida State in Jacksonville, Fla.
