What to know about Bronze Boot, Border War ahead of 2026 season-opener

An old rivalry with a new twist.

Colorado State and Wyoming have been battling in football since the late 1800s, but the 2026 edition brings much change.

The Border War rivals have long shared the same conference, but have now split as CSU is in the new Pac-12 and Wyoming is still in the Mountain West.

It means a season-opening matchup on Sept. 5 at Canvas Stadium. Here’s what to know about the history of the Border War and Bronze Boot:

Army Capt. Daniel J. Romero, a Pueblo native, wore the boot while serving in Vietnam. He offered up his boot upon returning home and being assigned to the ROTC program at Colorado State University.

Every year since 1968, the trophy has gone to the winning football team in the Border War rivalry between Wyoming and CSU.

Now the trophy sits on the sideline of whichever school won it the previous year during each year’s CSU-Wyoming game and is guarded by members of the ROTC program. As soon as the game ends, players on the winning team race over to the table, grab the boot and take it back to midfield to raise triumphantly in a victory celebration.

In an annual ritual, ROTC members from both universities run a game ball from one school to the other in a 65-mile relay along U.S. Highway 287. They meet for a ceremonial exchange at the state line at noon on the day before each year’s CSU-Wyoming football game.

The run begins early morning at the school that is the visitor that season and then concludes at the site of the host.

In this case, the run will begin in Laramie early the morning of Sept. 4 and the ceremony will take place at the border at noon before CSU’s ROTC runs the game ball to Fort Collins.

ROTC cadets will run the game ball through the Old Town Ram Rally (which starts at 6 p.m.) on Sept. 4.

The teams first played in 1899 (more on that game below). Only 12 times since then have CSU and Wyoming not played each other in football.

The two have met every season since 1946.

This is the earliest matchup between CSU and Wyoming in their history.

Twelve times CSU and Wyoming have played each other in September, but not since 2001. Five of the 12 September matchups between the teams came from the 1910s through 1930s.

CSU is 9-3 against Wyoming in September games.

This will be the 13th time the rivals have played each other to open CSU’s season (several of those openers came in October). CSU is 9-2-1 in matchups with Wyoming to open the season.

CSU claims an all-time record in the series of 59-52-5, while Wyoming claims a record of 52-60-5. If you’re doing some simple math, that means CSU claims 116 contests entering this week while Wyoming claims 117.

How does that work out?

The first meeting came way back in 1899 in Laramie on Thanksgiving Day. A tumultuous and hostile game ended with the referee ruling a forfeit in favor of Colorado Agricultural College (now CSU) due to a violation of a rule.

CSU kept the winning result in its record book until it revised its media guide in 2009 since the NCAA does not recognize forfeited games that were not completed, according to CSU’s unofficial historian John Hirn.

The game is no longer counted by CSU (although it is noted in the media guide), while Wyoming still counts it as a loss.

CSU won the Boot in 2020 and found it was in disrepair.

“I don’t believe that Boot would have survived one more year like that,” said Hoss Khollesi of The Bronzery, a foundry in California tasked with restoring the Bronze Boot, after the Boot was restored.

Bronze Boot restored: CSU-Wyoming football rivalry trophy ‘wouldn’t have made it one more year’

“It wouldn’t have made it one more year. They would have grabbed the Boot and lifted and the whole base would have been separated.”

He separated the shoe into several parts and reinforced the sole with a special glue. An extensive process to reinforce, re-bronze and strengthen the bolting of the shoe to the base took several weeks.

Sports reporter Kevin Lytle can be found on social media on X, Instagram and Threads @Kevin_Lytle and on Bluesky.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: What to know about Bronze Boot, Border War ahead of 2026 season-opener