Sanders Wants Buffs to Buck Spring Game Trend, but There’s a Catch

As college football spring games are at risk of extinction at some major programs, Deion Sanders is unsurprisingly going against the grain at Colorado.

Texas, USC, and Nebraska are among the biggest Power 4 schools to cancel their 2025 spring games. Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule cited the disadvantage of letting other teams scout his players, given the loose rules of the transfer portal. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said he’s planning a more NFL-driven style of spring practices akin to OTAs.

But Sanders has announced Colorado’s 2025 spring game will be held April 19 in Boulder, and once again be nationally broadcast, on ESPN2. Last year’s spring game was not televised, but the 2023 edition, the first with Sanders as head coach, was the only spring game to air on ESPN’s flagship network, drawing 551,000 viewers.

“We got to sell this thing out and pack this thing, because the way the trend is going, you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,” Sanders said at a press conference Monday. “I don’t believe in that, and I don’t really want to condone that, and I would like to play—I actually would like to play against another team this spring, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Syracuse coach Fran Brown tweeted that he would be willing to take Sanders up on the spring game idea. A rule change would be needed for Sanders to get his wish, though, as current bylaws prevent college football teams from playing against one another in the spring, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN. 

“I would like to style it like the pros,” Sanders said. “I would like to practice against someone for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public will be satisfied with that tremendously.”

In 2023, Colorado sold out its spring game at Folsom Field for the first time, drawing more than 47,000 fans—a dramatic spike from the attendance of 1,100 for the 2022 spring game. Last year, the Buffaloes drew roughly 28,000 fans.