The 1996 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1996, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. This was the 60th held game. The Cotton Bowl Classic was part of the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. The bowl game featured the Colorado Buffaloes from the Big Eight and the Oregon Ducks from the Pacific-10 Conference. The game was televised on CBS.

Colorado had only a 13-6 halftime lead, but the Buffs scored 25 straight points in the second half while also shutting out Oregon.