Program field guide · 2026

Big 12 · Colorado

Colorado

Buffaloes

Colorado’s Colorado-developed core fell from 34 to 6 players.

2026 roster · Roster geography

The Colorado roster story

In 2016, 34 of 121 roster spots were filled by Colorado players with no earlier college team detected. On the 2026 roster, 6 of 105 fit the same definition. Detected transfers went from 4 to 48.

In 2016 the median player grew up 815 mi from campus. Now it is 959 mi.

Of the 48 players who came from another college, 2 are from Colorado. Those home-state players make up 4% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

The record reaches back to 1975, when 38% of the roster came from Colorado. Today it is 8%.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–2528.2%14.4%3.7%28.5%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core28.2%14.4%
Transfer stock3.7%28.5%

The roster, at a glance

  • 1,004 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 101 located players.
  • 7.8%In-state7.8% of the roster is from Colorado.
  • 5.9%Backyard5.9% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 45.7%Detected transfers45.7% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where Colorado ranks

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

02004006008001000FBS median (250 mi)197519851995200620162026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedOutsider developedOutsider transfer200420082013201720222026

Where do Colorado's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
20261057.8%45.7%959 mi
202510511.8%44.8%976 mi
202411113.1%42.3%994 mi
202311310.8%35.4%926 mi
202211721.7%9.4%826 mi
202110425.2%10.6%824 mi
202012025.4%5.8%815 mi
201911325.7%4.4%825 mi
201811526.5%5.2%830 mi
201711531.0%2.6%819 mi
201612129.2%3.3%815 mi
201512229.5%0.8%817 mi
201411222.3%0.0%829 mi
201311826.5%0.8%830 mi
201210526.9%1.0%820 mi
201110434.0%1.9%795 mi
201010435.0%3.8%794 mi
200910828.3%2.8%865 mi
20083512.0%5.7%
2007406.3%5.0%
2006320.0%3.1%
2005380.0%0.0%
2004350.0%
2003archive10841.0%0.0% proxy661 mi
2002archive11741.2%0.0% proxy656 mi
2001archive10339.0%0.0% proxy692 mi
2000archive9837.9%0.0% proxy796 mi
1999archive10933.9%0.0% proxy803 mi
1998archive10922.4%0.0% proxy820 mi
1997archive9123.9%0.0% proxy808 mi
1996archive10823.8%0.0% proxy804 mi
1995archive9528.3%0.0% proxy769 mi
1994archive9328.1%0.0% proxy815 mi
1993archive9828.0%0.0% proxy789 mi
1992archive9831.6%0.0% proxy802 mi
1991archive10433.3%0.0% proxy803 mi
1990archive12336.1%0.0% proxy776 mi
1989archive10332.0%0.0% proxy790 mi
1988archive9730.9%0.0% proxy789 mi
1987archive11437.7%0.0% proxy686 mi
1986archive10246.1%0.0% proxy569 mi
1985archive10838.3%0.0% proxy626 mi
1984archive10543.7%0.0% proxy625 mi
1983archive10141.4%0.0% proxy600 mi
1982archive10236.7%0.0% proxy666 mi
1981archive8429.3%0.0% proxy801 mi
1980archive9731.6%0.0% proxy798 mi
1979archive9238.9%0.0% proxy686 mi
1978archive9433.3%0.0% proxy795 mi
1977archive9438.6%0.0% proxy686 mi
1976archive9133.0%0.0% proxy820 mi
1975archive8238.5%0.0% proxy795 mi

‡ fewer than 70 roster rows or under 75% known home state — treat with caution.

archive = official athletic-site roster. “Proxy” is the share listing a previous school where that field behaved like a transfer field; it is not the same measure as detected transfer stock.

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

Colorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometownColorado player hometown

Homecoming Radius: 959 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

Keep exploring

More from Big 12

See all Big 12 teams