Boulder's stadium has the best backdrop in college football and it isn't particularly close: the Flatirons shoot out of the ground just past the west rim of Folsom Field, and at some point every game, usually as the sun drops, the entire crowd stops watching football for a second. Then a live buffalo runs at forty miles an hour and everyone remembers why they came.
The Mascot
Ralphie is a real buffalo — technically a bison, and technically always a female, because the males are too big to handle — and before each half she leads the team onto the field at a dead sprint with five handlers hanging on for their lives. The tradition started in 1967 and remains the single most impressive live-mascot act in sports. Ralphie does not jog.
The Saturday
Folsom Field sits at 5,360 feet, which the scoreboard reminds visiting teams about constantly. The tailgate scene skews Boulder: craft beer, gear that transitions from tailgate to trailhead, and a student section that dresses in gold. When Colorado is good, the whole front range shows up and the town's population feels like it doubles.
What to Wear
Our vintage Boulder line puts a hand-drawn buffalo on gold and black — tees and caps built for a game that starts sunny at 70 degrees and ends in a snow squall, because Boulder. Layer accordingly. Start with all Boulder gear.