1972 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1973 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 8–3 in the regular season (4–3 in Big 8, tied for third), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

In the Gator Bowl, Colorado fell to sixth-ranked Auburn to finish at 8–4,^[3] and dropped to sixteenth in the final AP poll.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9		California*	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 20–10	50,751	[4]
September 16	1:30 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 56–14	50,171	[5]
September 23		at Minnesota*	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 38–6	42,703	[6]
September 30		at Oklahoma State	No. 3	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		L 6–31	38,500	[7]
October 7		at Kansas State	No. 12	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		W 38–17	40,000	[8]
October 14		No. 18 Iowa State	No. 13	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 34–22	51,668	[9]
October 21		No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	W 20–14	52,022	[10]
October 28		at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		L 17–20	55,500	[11]
November 4		No. 3 Nebraska	No. 15	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–33	52,128	[12]
November 11		Kansas	No. 16	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 33–8	50,304	[13]
November 18	1:02 p.m.	at Air Force*	No. 15	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 38–7	47,191	[14]
December 30		vs. No. 6 Auburn*	No. 13	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 3–24	71,114	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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• TE J.V. Cain Jr.