Rick George: Colorado vs. Syracuse spring scrimmage has 'really good chance' of NCAA approval

Colorado athletic director Rick George expressed confidence the NCAA will ultimately approve the proposed Spring scrimmage between Deion Sanders‘ Buffaloes and Syracuse, according to Buffzone’s Brian Howell. Current NCAA bylaws prevent two teams from holding joint practices or exhibition scrimmages during Spring, but both Colorado and Syracuse have submitted the necessary waiver requests to the NCAA last week.

“We wouldn’t have submitted it if we didn’t think there was a legitimate chance for us to get that (waiver),” George told Howell. “I think that there’s a really good chance it could happen.”

Football: CU Buffs AD Rick George hopeful NCAA will approve scrimmage vs. Syracuse. “We wouldn’t have submitted it if we didn’t think there was a legitimate chance for us to get that (waiver),” he said. #cubuffs https://t.co/5eCuZJioKO

— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) March 27, 2025

According to Howell, neither school has received a response from the NCAA football oversight committmee, but a decision is expected by next week. Syracuse head coach Fran Brown told On3‘s Pete Nakos he was hopeful a decision would come by Friday.

Fran Brown: Joint scrimmage with Colorado ‘good for the fans, good for college football’

“I’m just waiting on the NCAA to come back to allow us to do this, so this could be huge for college football,” Brown told Nakos. “They should be getting back to us by the end of this week. As soon as they asked for it, we gave it to them within the next hour. Boom, boom, boom. We should get some news back in the next two days. This will be great for college football. We need this. … It’s good for the fans, it’s good for college football.”

Colorado’s Deion Sanders first suggested holding a joint scrimmage earlier this month amid a wave of Spring game cancelations around the Power Four ranks, with at least 20 teams already opting out of holding their traditional intrasquad Spring football scrimmages. Not afraid of a little friendly competition, Brown jumped at the idea, replying to Sanders’ proposal on X/Twitter that Syracuse would travel to Colorado for a multi-day visit similar to the NFL’s preseason model.

“I think this is a great idea for college football,” George told Howell. “You’ve got some schools out there looking at not playing a spring game. We’re looking at playing a spring game that’s going to drive more fans in here in the spring time that get excited about your program. And maybe the networks start covering more spring games and there’s a monetary value to that that schools can recoup. So I think (Sanders’) idea is brilliant, and I support it.”

Should the schools be granted their waiver, both sides would still need to work out other logistical issues, including scheduling the scrimmage and the proposed three-day trip to Boulder around the Orange’s own Spring football game currently slated for April 12. Colorado currently has its own Spring game set for April 19, but if the NCAA ultimately approves the waiver, that could certainly change.