CSU football adds games against Washington State in 2022, 2023

CSU has added another home-and-home football series with a school in a Power 5 conference.

The Rams will play games in 2022 and 2023 against Washington State.

FBSschedules.com first reported the news Thursday after obtaining a copy of the contract from Washington State under an open-records request. Colorado State University confirmed the report Friday.

The contract calls for CSU to play at Washington State on Sept. 17, 2022, with the return game Sept. 2, 2023, in Fort Collins.

CSU and Washington State have only met in football once before, in the 2013 New Mexico Bowl. The Rams rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final 4 minutes and 17 seconds for a thrilling 48-45 win.

The games against Washington State are the only two nonconference games currently on the Rams’ schedule for those two seasons, although athletic director Joe Parker has said he’s working on a deal to play games against the University of Colorado in 2023 and 2024.

The Rocky Mountain Showdown, as the annual battle between CSU and CU has come to be known, is scheduled to end after the 2020 game in Fort Collins. The Buffs have filled their nonconference schedules without CSU for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

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Adding the games against Washington State, a Pacific-12 Conference school, assures the Rams of playing at least one game a season against a school from a Power 5 conference 10 of the next 11 seasons.

Parker has also added home-and-home series against Southeastern Conference schools Arkansas (2018-19) and Vanderbilt (2020-21 and 2025-26), Big 12 school Texas Tech (2025-26) and Pac-12 schools Oregon State (2017 and 2020) and Arizona (2027-28), bringing each of those schools to Fort Collins for games at CSU’s on-campus stadium at least once.

CSU also has guarantee games against Power 5 schools this fall at SEC school Florida as part of former coach Jim McElwain’s buyout and in 2021 at Big Ten school Iowa.

CSU will play three of its four nonconference games against schools from Power 5 conferences this fall (CU, Arkansas and Florida) and again in 2020 (CU, Oregon State and Vanderbilt).

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and listen to him talk CSU sports at 11:35 a.m. Thursdays on KFKA radio (AM 1310) and 10:45 a.m. Saturdays on Denver’s ESPN radio (AM 1600).

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