NCAA redefines short-sightedness in denying Deion Sanders’ revolutionary spring practice plan
By David Wasson
Published:
Someday, when archaeologists dig up remnants from current day and try to examine just how our culture existed in daily life, a learned scholar not yet even born will carefully dust off relics and decipher clues about the bygone existence of college football in its most glorious times.
That scholar will pore over every bit, every kernel unearthed from the rubble of rubbish out there, and eventually draw a decidedly learned opinion:
Prime was right.
That’s right, beautiful reader. Deion Sanders is right about, well, just about everything. No, the erstwhile Colorado coach doesn’t always hit the mark with his musings about every little thing that crosses his mind. That’s a fancy way of saying that Sanders occasionally leads the nation in attempted BS sold. But by and large, Prime knows best – even when the NCAA shuts him down.
The latest example of Indianapolis-based short-sightedness as it relates to Coach Prime was handed down late last week, as Sanders and Colorado were again denied a request by the NCAA to conduct joint spring practices with Syracuse. The decision marked the second-straight year Sanders and the Buffaloes made the request, and the second-straight year it was inexplicably denied.
Why, you ask? Well, under current NCAA legislation spring games or practices between 2 Football Bowl Subdivision programs are prohibited unless specific relief is granted. The NCAA Division I FBS Oversight Committee voted during a Jan. 22 video conference to reject Colorado’s second-straight request, citing an ongoing comprehensive review of the college football calendar.
That is a fancy collection of words that really mean “because we say so,” because there really isn’t any good reason we can think of to shoot down Prime for this innovative idea.
What is the NCAA afraid of, exactly – either Colorado or Syracuse gaining some sort of competitive advantage? It isn’t like either team plays common opponents in 2026, as Colorado lives in the Big 12 and Syracuse resides in the ACC.
It can’t be because of any perceived recruiting advantage gained by either the Buffaloes or the Orange, as there aren’t just a lot of commitments that typically come out of a spring football game. Those usually come rolling in later during the summer camp season. Not to mention the fact that both Colorado and Syracuse were 3-9 last season and managed just 2 combined conference victories… so it isn’t exactly like we are talking about the cream of the crop.
Colorado and Syracuse might not be on the short list of teams with a chance to win the 2026 national championship, but here are the favorites via Kalshi:
Even the excuse of “gee, loading all those student-athletes on a plane for a long weekend takes them away from their studies” is an extra-large bucket of hogwash – as the NCAA clearly has no concerns jetting basketball programs around the country for the entire month of March during March Madness. The amount of players that take either online or hybrid classes that allow for precisely the kind of flexibility it would take to schedule a trip to either Boulder or Syracuse is almost at 100%.
The reasons to allow Colorado and Syracuse to play a spring game against each other far outweigh any perceived negatives. For starters, any coach at any level will tell you that practicing against your teammates gets old fast. That’s why the NFL is increasingly moving toward joint preseason workouts – a better way to gauge talent gains than watching players go up against teammates who know their signals and plays.
There is also the positive effect of producing a product people will actually pay attention to. What a concept, right? Having Deion Sanders and Fran Brown square off in a controlled scrimmage in the spring is way more entertaining than the dreck we get now with spring games. Charge a few bucks at the door, give it all to charity, and watch the resulting television rating blow the doors off of any MLB or NHL game that weekend. And can you imagine, say, Florida scrimmaging against Utah? Or LSU teeing it up in a spring game against Stanford?
Incidentally, the NCAA denied Colorado’s request last year allegedly because it was submitted too late in the cycle. So when Sanders and the Buffs submitted the request earlier this year… it was time for a fresh excuse why something so clearly genius just won’t fly with the boys and girls in Indy.
This is an anti-Prime gambit, clear and simple. Just as Sanders was the lead locomotive in what is now an out-of-control transfer portal train, and just as Coach Prime is surely ahead of his time fining players NFL-style for missing workouts and practices, it is only a question of when – not if – the NCAA finally stops hem-hawing on this concept and gives it the OK.
Go ahead and chisel it into the stone of the Front Range foothills: Within 5 years, every FBS program will have spring-ending scrimmages against another FBS program. This will be a huge success the moment it first happens, and everyone will be casting glances at each other trying to figure out why no one thought of it sooner.
Except Deion Sanders. Why?
Because Prime was right.
Again.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
