Last week proved to be a big week for the Colorado football program.

Head coach Mike MacIntyre quelled a long list of worries — including some from this corner — by nailing down a superb defensive coordinator, Jim Leavitt. MacIntyre also announced a recruiting class that should give the program much-needed depth and establish a firm foundation for the future, something that’s been sorely lacking in recent years.

And then there was athletic director Rick George’s shot directly across the bow of neighboring Colorado State. Mincing no words, George in effect told the Rams, “Either play by our rules when it comes to the CU-CSU series or the series is over when the current contract runs out in 2020.”

Reaction proved predictable.

For the most part, Buff fans greeted the news with a collective, “Who cares?” CU folks have never been fond of the series, mostly because it’s been a no-win situation for the Buffs. If the major conference Buffs win, they are supposed to. If they lose to the lesser conference Rams, it’s a black eye. It’s why former CU coach Bill McCartney hated the series and did his best to avoid it as often as possible.

Ram faithful, meanwhile, expressed outrage. How dare the Buffs decide they should dictate the terms? And, because of CSU’s recent success in the series (the Rams have won two of the last three), Colorado State folks hinted that the Buffs were afraid to continue the series.

The media also reacted predictably, poking fun at the Buffs while also questioning CU’s motives. One prominent Denver columnist (we won’t name names, but his initials are Woody Paige) even threatened to go directly to the state legislature and demand a bill forcing the teams to play if George follows through on his threat.

All of which, of course, is premature. The series has at least six more games to be played, with the next five in Denver and the 2020 site to be decided by CSU. There’s plenty of time for a new agreement if both sides are truly interested in getting one signed.

But if a new deal is reached, it’s also clear that George and CU will establish the parameters because this much is abundantly clear: CSU needs the series much more than CU.

For the Rams, the game is usually the marquee matchup of their season and their biggest pay day of the year. It’s a cornerstone of their budget, one CSU officials have come to depend on in a big way.

For the Buffs, it’s another nice pay day, but one they can duplicate relatively easily by adding an extra home game.

Simply, if the series goes away, the Rams will take a financial hit; the Buffs will move on and conduct business as usual.

Therein also lies the crux of the situation: business. Forget the passion of a rivalry game, forget the “good for the game and good for the state” emotion.

First and foremost, Rick George is a businessman who happens to be involved in college athletics. His job is to create a successful department, both in terms of wins and losses and the bottom line — and the two are inextricably linked.

A game at Folsom Field is much more valuable to George and his customer base than a game in Denver. It’s why George has been trying to change the terms of the current contract and move some of the upcoming games back to Boulder.

When CSU wouldn’t agree to such a switch, he came up with a Plan B:

Instead of forcing CU fans to buy tickets to the games in Denver, he will now give them the opportunity to exchange those CSU tickets for tickets to games in Folsom next season.

Fans will now have the choice of buying tickets for the CSU game, or buying extra tickets to see top 25 programs Oregon, Southern Cal, Arizona and Stanford next fall. Want to guess which option many fans will choose?

The ploy accomplishes two things. One, it will increase attendance at Folsom next fall, where empty seats have recently been growing at a steady rate.

Two, it gives him another fulcrum in the negotiations with CSU.

What does CU want in the series?

The Buffs want their home games in Boulder, not in Denver. It’s a financial and customer-based decision. Not a big deal.

But the big sticking point is this: they also want a two-for-one deal, meaning two games in Boulder for every game played in Fort Collins or Denver.

That, of course, isn’t playing well in Fort Collins. Interim athletic director John Morris told the Loveland Reporter-Herald last week, “We cannot agree to two games in Boulder and one in Fort Collins. It would have to be a fair agreement.”

But “fair” has never been a cornerstone of business negotiations. George and the Buffs are not interested in “fair.”

Like it or not, they are interested in sound financial decisions that will give CU the best chance to succeed at every juncture — and playing the game every year in Denver does not meet those standards.

I’m one of those people who likes the series, and who also believes the game should be played on a college campus. In-state rivalry games — even in those states where the two major schools aren’t in the same conference — are a staple. Florida-Florida State, Iowa-Iowa State and Utah-Utah State (and Utah-BYU) are great traditions.

But CU-CSU has never been on the level of those rivalries. Both schools survived a 24-year hiatus in the series (1959-82) quite nicely. Even when it resumed in 1983, it wasn’t until 1995 that it became an annual affair again.

The best solution might be one that has the two schools playing two or three times every five or six years. It would keep interest at a peak and would give both schools a chance to bring other quality opponents into their stadiums when their schedules allow it.

But unless an outside force steps in to change the dynamic, one thing has become quite clear:

The terms will be dictated by CU. If the Rams want the pay day, they’ll agree to those terms.

Otherwise, both programs will go their separate ways.

That’s just the way business works.