Deion Sanders would love for Colorado to play another team in its spring game, except it's not allowed by NCAA rules
Deion Sanders and Fran Brown want to set up a spring game between Colorado and Syracuse but those pesky NCAA rules are in the way.
Sanders has continued to be a proponent of college football teams playing each other in spring practices like NFL teams do when they scrimmage at training camp. Colorado's spring game next month is set to be televised by ESPN2, and Sanders would love for his team to scrimmage against another team instead of teammates playing against teammates.
'We got to sell this thing out and pack this thing because the way the train is going, you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,' Sanders said at his news conference Monday. 'I don't believe in that, I don't really want to condone that. I would like to play the spring [game]. Actually I'd like to play against another team in the spring. That's what I'm trying to do right now. To have it competitive, playing against your own guys kind of gets monotonous and you really can't tell the level of your own guys.'
'I would like to style it like the pros. I would like to practice someone for a few days then you have a spring game and I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously. I think it's a tremendous idea.'
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It's certainly not a bad idea. As schools move to ditch spring games because of the spring transfer portal, teams playing each other would certainly add some variety and help make spring games relevant again.
Brown, the Syracuse coach, saw Sanders' quotes and immediately volunteered his team to travel to Boulder.
.@DeionSanders we will come to Boulder for 3 days 🎯🍊🙏🏾 https://t.co/RFkyveLPv1
— Fran Brown (@FranBrownCuse) March 17, 2025
Alas, the idea won't come to fruition without an NCAA rule change. The governing body's rules prohibit teams from scrimmaging against each other in spring practices. So much for that.
It is worth wondering if the NCAA would consider revisiting that rule in the near future, especially if teams continue to axe spring games. Teams like Nebraska and Texas among others aren't holding spring games this year. What used to be a huge tradition in college football is now quickly disappearing. And having two teams play against each other could be a way to revive it.
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