The 1986 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Bill McCartney, Colorado opened with four losses, but finished the regular season at 6–5 (6–1 in Big 8, second). It was their best conference record in a quarter century, and they were invited to the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston on New Year's Eve.