1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the third and final season for Chuck Fairbanks' as head coach, and the first year of blue jerseys for the Buffaloes, which were phased out in 1984.

The Buffaloes finished at 3–8 (2–5 in Big 8, seventh) for a third consecutive losing season. Home games were played on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder. After a shutout loss at Kansas, CU defeated last-place Kansas State by three points at home in the season finale to avoid the conference cellar.

Well after the season in June 1982, Fairbanks resigned to become head coach, president, and minority owner of the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League (USFL). His overall record at CU was a disappointing .210, .230 in conference. Bill McCartney, the defensive coordinator at Michigan under Bo Schembechler, was announced as Colorado's new head coach on June 9,  and led the program for thirteen seasons, through 1994.