The Sooners restructured their 2028 schedule to accommodate a grueling nine-game SEC slate, swapping the Rams for a more manageable matchup while avoiding hefty contract cancellation penalties.
Oklahoma and Colorado State have mutually agreed to cancel their planned 2028 football game in Norman, according to FBSchedules.com.
The two sides originally set the matchup for Sept. 30, 2028, at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium when they reached an agreement in 2023.The original contract included a $1.8 million guarantee for Colorado State and a $1 million cancellation penalty if the game was called off for reasons other than mutual consent.
A letter obtained from Colorado State and signed by both athletic directors confirms the schools agreed to terminate the contract entirely, including the compensation and damages language. Any public announcement was also directed to state that the decision came by mutual consent.
No official reason was given, but the timing makes the explanation pretty clear. The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule, and that left Oklahoma with one too many non-conference games on the 2028 slate. The Sooners already had Temple, Missouri State, and Houston lined up around the league slate. Something had to come off.
Oklahoma’s 2028 SEC schedule is already demanding. The Sooners are set to host Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss, play Texas in Dallas, and go on the road to Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas A&M. That is a full league slate. Keeping four non-conference games on top of it did not make sense once the conference format changed.
Colorado State now has an open date to fill in 2028. The Rams are currently scheduled to visit Arizona on Sept. 2, host Sam Houston on Sept. 9, and host Wyoming on Sept. 23. Losing the Oklahoma game removes a significant paycheck, but the mutual agreement at least spared both sides the penalty fight.
As previously reported, Oklahoma effectively replaced the Colorado State game by adding Missouri State. The Bears are scheduled to come to Norman on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2028, for a $1.2 million guarantee. That is a cheaper buy game than the Colorado State agreement would have been, and it helps clean up the overscheduled year.
The Missouri State matchup will only be the second meeting between the programs. The first came during the 2020 COVID season, when Oklahoma beat the Bears 48-0 in Norman. That was the Sooners’ only non-conference game that year because of the Big 12’s pandemic scheduling limits.
These kinds of cancellations are becoming more common as conferences change their formats and programs try to balance guarantees, competitive schedules, and the new realities of a nine-game league slate. Oklahoma needed to shed a game. Colorado State agreed to walk away clean. Missouri State steps into the open home date at a lower guarantee.
For Oklahoma, it is mostly housekeeping. The 2028 non-conference slate now looks more manageable with Temple, Missouri State, and Houston around that difficult SEC schedule. For Colorado State, it is one less high-paying road game and one more date to fill.
Both sides get to call it mutual, which is usually the cleanest way these things end.
