Deion Sanders Pushes Back on Big 12 Availability Reports
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Arizona is 4-3 and traveling to Colorado this Saturday. Brent Brennan is looking for a road win to snap a two-game losing skid, while the Buffaloes are reeling from a 53-7 defeat at Utah last week.
Noah Fifita will have a big task at hand in Boulder, where the Buffaloes have been a better version of themselves. At home, Colorado has lost twice, and both of those teams are currently ranked inside the top 10. Those losses to Georgia Tech and BYU came by a combined 10 points.
It won't be an easy game for the Wildcats, but it is one they surely need if they have any hope of going to a bowl game. With just two more wins needed to qualify, every game from here is important.
The good news is the Wildcats are looking pretty healthy coming off their bye week as they travel north. The Buffaloes, not so much. For Deion Sanders, that raises an eyebrow.
Deion Sanders Questions Honesty of Big 12 Injury Reports
On Thursday's "Colorado Football Coaches Show", Sanders addressed the initial availability reports provided on Wednesday by Arizona, Colorado, and the rest of the conference. The Buffaloes listed 16 players on their report, including offensive lineman Xavier Hill, who will be out for the game against the Wildcats.
Arizona, however, listed only one on Wednesday. Offensive lineman Jordan Brown was listed as out.
Sanders doesn't buy that the Wildcats are that healthy.
"Let’s tell the truth, and we do,” Sanders said. “I guess everybody else is lying because there’s no way nobody’s that healthy.”
On Thursday, the Wildcats added two more players to their availability report, listing defensive back Marquis Groves-Killebrew as questionable and linebacker Riley Wilson as probable.
Sanders didn't mention any teams specifically, but given the discrepancy between the two teams on the availability report, it's fair to say he was referring to Arizona.
“Why do we always like, we always have 100 guys (on the availability report) and the other team, I look over and they have two guys?” Sanders pondered. “Are we the only ones being honest?”
The Big 12 began releasing availability reports before games this season in the interest of gamesmanship and full transparency. It's also helped to prevent trading intel on injuries for gamblers, which has caused a stir in the NBA recently.
Sanders has followed this rule closely this season to avoid "my name slandered for lying."
“I don’t lie. I don’t," Sanders said. "I’m not gonna placate nothing. Let’s tell the truth. And we do.”
On Arizona's game day availability report against Houston, six players were listed as out, but five of those players were deemed to be out for the remainder of the season. Wide receiver Chris Hunter was listed as probable, but did not play against the Cougars.
The Buffaloes' high-profile coach said his team and staff go through their list of injuries daily with the training staff to ensure an accurate report.
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Logan Brown is an alumnus of the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently works as a General College Sports Reporter On SI. Logan has an extensive background in writing and has contributed to Cronkite Sports, PHNX Sports, and Motion Graphics.
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