Colorado Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders isn’t a fan of night games and can’t seem to crack that code. His record past 7:30 P.M. is 5-9, and his Buffs are coming off a 36-20 loss to the Houston Cougars last Friday night.
Coach Prime is moving his team’s practice time to the afternoon, hoping that’s an easy fix. As USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer relayed, though, this isn’t a problem for other schools. Not the Missouri Tigers or Auburn Tigers, anyway.
“Deion Sanders is an early riser who doesn’t like waiting all day for kickoff on game days. His team also usually practices in the morning,” Schrotenboer wrote.
“He brought up the subject again when asked what he might need to change with his team’s preparation after losing to Houston. But he then backtracked on that, noting the other team is playing at the same time.
“Other teams haven’t had the same issue as Colorado. Missouri is 8-0 in games starting at 7:30 p.m. or later since the start of the 2023 season, according to data provided by Stats Perform. Auburn is 7-0.
“A spokesman for Missouri said the team typically has practiced in the late afternoon. Auburn said its team practiced in the afternoons the previous two years and is practicing in the morning this season. They are 3-0 this year, including two games that started at 7:30 p.m. ET or later.”
Colorado’s had some of its all-time classic wins at night in the “Prime Time” era, including both Colorado State Rams matchups, and last September’s come-from-behind win over the Baylor Bears. They also had their worst loss at home as a major favorite at night: to the Stanford Cardinal in October 2023, blowing a 29-0 halftime lead to lose 46-43 in double overtime.
Matchups have dictated results more than anything, but it’s fair to assess that Colorado’s wildest results happen under the lights.
We’ll see if they can start making them more positive than negative on average, like Mizzou and AU.