Coach Prime and CU Buffs are must-see TV

The hopes for the Colorado Buffaloes hosting College GameDay at some point this fall must have gone up after the folks in Connecticut saw the ratings from the Buffs Spring Game.

Deion Sanders first showing at Folsom Field came in front of a packed house and a big TV audience. ESPN reported on Tuesday that 551,000 folks tuned into what was essentially a glorified football practice. The audience is the second-largest for a spring game on ESPN since 2016 and up 92% from last year’s CU Spring Game.

Saturday's @CUBuffsFootball spring game on ESPN registered 551,000 viewers

🏈 2nd most-watched spring game on ESPN since 2016
🏈 Up 92% year-over-year pic.twitter.com/8sNwMeQ1ji

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 25, 2023

ESPN will have plenty of prime spots to pick a GameDay date with CU opening up against CFP runner-up TCU, then coming home for games against rivals Nebraska and Colorado State. Following that are big-time Pac-12 games against Oregon then hosting Heisman winner Caleb Williams and his USC Trojan friends.

But just as the audience has gone up for Buffs football, the players on the field have completely changed. Most for the better with CU going 1-11 last year but since the Spring Game an additional 20 players have left the program, including the school’s leading rusher, receiver and defensive lineman. Just like those players are hitting the Portal, Prime will need to find some transfers to replace them too.