CU vs Houston: A Friday Night Game at Folsom Field

On Friday, November 13, 2026, the CU Buffs host Houston at Folsom Field, and the lights will be on late: kickoff is 8:15 pm. If you are the one organizing a group trip around this game, here is the skeleton of the weekend: the date, the stadium, getting there, and where to sleep fourteen people when the town fills up.

The Facts

• Date: Friday, November 13, 2026. Yes, Friday the 13th. The floodlights care nothing for superstition.
• Matchup: CU Buffs vs Houston, a Big 12 conference game.
• Venue: Folsom Field, on the CU campus in Boulder, the stadium where the pregame view is a wall of red sandstone.
• Kickoff: 8:15 pm, per the official CU Athletics schedule: cubuffs.com/sports/football/schedule/2026.
• Watching from home or the road: The game is on ESPN, and on the radio on KOA 850 AM and 94.1 FM, per the same schedule.

All game facts from the official CU Athletics 2026 football schedule, checked October 15, 2026.

Planning a Group Weekend Around It

A Friday night game changes the shape of the trip. The weekend starts with the game itself, which means you can drive in Friday, settle the crew, and let the stadium carry the evening. By mid-November Boulder is dark before five and cold by kickoff, so plan for it: hats, gloves, the coat you thought was too warm. The reward is one of the best spectacles in college football, a loud bowl of a stadium lit up against a black sky with the Flatirons somewhere behind the glow.

Getting there: the walk from downtown to the stadium is a steady uphill twenty minutes, or you can use the free game day shuttle from CU's East Campus lots to the stadium, which starts three hours before kickoff and runs until an hour after the game ends; the details are on the university's parking site: colorado.edu/pts/special-events/football. Folsom Field has a clear bag policy: bags need to be clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC no bigger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches, or a one-gallon clear freezer bag, and everything else stays in the car. Expect heavy traffic out of the lots afterward; the university's parking folks suggest not driving onto campus for the first hour after the final whistle, which is as good an excuse as any to walk back down to Pearl Street for a late dinner while the crowd drains out.

Where to Stay

Sunshine Canyon Retreat sleeps fourteen in the canyon above town, a twenty minute drive to the stadium and a world away from the game-day crush. Come back after the final whistle, soak in the hot tub under a November sky, and let Friday night become the first night of the weekend instead of the only one. Conference games in November are exactly the kind of weekend that fills Boulder's beds early, so if this one is on your group's list, check dates with us sooner rather than later.