👋 Good Morning!

Are you still in shock over the Micah Parsons trade? I cannot believe that the Cowboys actually failed to get a deal done with the best linebacker in football.

I will say that the recent moves across the league could bite the Broncos a little bit in the end. Now that Parsons and Trey Hendrickson have gotten their new deals from Green Bay and Cincinnati, the price tag to lock down Nik Bonitto just went up.

— Justin Michael

We’ve already had a couple of fun games nationally over the last six days, but Week 1 is here and it’s time to see what the local programs are made of.

Both the CU Buffs and the CSU Rams are coming off of bowl seasons, which was encouraging considering we hadn’t seen them both make the postseason since 2016. Going into 2025, though, there’s a hope within the respective fan bases to see their teams turn things up a notch or two this fall.

While both schools had respectable records overall and were in the mix to play for conference championships, neither was able to truly seize that moment or even make the title game. And as great as it was to go to bowl games, both got thumped last December in front of great crowds. There was a real excitement to be back in the postseason and to the credit of the alumni, they showed out for their schools. Unfortunately, the teams did not repay that support by getting it done on the field.

There’s a generation of younger fans who have no idea what it’s like to see any kind of sustained success. They weren’t here for the days when both schools were regularly top 25 teams and genuinely respected on a national level. They’ve heard the names but can’t even comprehend how good of coaches Sonny Lubick and Bill McCartney were.

Putting the dynamic of a passionate in-state rivalry aside, I’d give anything for college football to be as big locally as it was in the glory days. Deion Sanders certainly brought some juice to Boulder but the novelty wears off quickly. And honestly, I think there will be real panic for both CU and CSU if we don’t see them build off of last year’s success.

The stakes are high this year. We’ll see what they can do.

Game day is FINALLY here. Get ready for the matchup with some insight from the DNVR Buffs crew,

Read: Which camp standout will have a BIG game for Colorado? (CU Roundtable)

It seems like there is a belief internally that a deal will eventually get done with Nik Bonitto. What about one of the better defensive lineman in the division?

READ: George Paton discusses John Franklin-Myers’ future in Denver | by Zac Stevens

CSU had three rookies make 53-man rosters in the NFL this week and all of them began their collegiate careers elsewhere.

READ: Jay Norvell knows exactly what he’s looking for in the transfer portal | by Justin Michael