What NCAA’s New Football Calendar Means for Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes

The FBS Oversight Committee shortened the January transfer window and completely overhauled the offseason, and few programs feel those changes more directly than the Colorado Buffaloes

Deion Sanders has rebuilt the Colorado roster through the transfer portal since arriving in Boulder. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Colorado Buffaloes have made the January roster turnover a key part of the coach Deion Sanders era. Starting in 2027, that work could come with five fewer days and a different offseason schedule around it.

The FBS Oversight Committee adopted a package of calendar changes Friday that would shorten the January transfer window from 15 to 10 days, create two offseason practice periods totaling 21 on-field practices, and move the start of the 2027 season to the Thursday of what is now Week 0.

Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense would get more offseason practice time under the proposed calendar. | Samantha Laurey / Argus Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Division I Cabinet still has to approve the portal and practice proposals at its Oct. 6-7 meeting before they can take full effect come Jan. 1. The 2027 calendar would stretch the regular season across 14 weeks, keep 12 games and give teams a second bye.

10 days to do what Colorado does

Few programs have depended on the transfer portal as heavily as Colorado. Coach Deion Sanders brought in 66 new players for 2026, and the January window reinforced the staff to replace major pieces while building another incoming class.

Colorado already had 33 scholarship players in the portal before former left tackle Jordan Seaton joined them. Cutting five days from that window now tightens the same job: identify needs, evaluate replacements, and close on them before running out of time.

Jordan Seaton left Colorado during a January portal window that could shrink to 10 days next year. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In practice, the shorter window favors teams that already know what they need before it opens. Sanders has rebuilt the roster every winter since he arrived in 2023, meaning that preparation will matter even more as it stands.

More offseason practice, less preseason camp

The practice model gives the Buffs something back. Teams currently get 15 spring practices. Under the proposal, two offseason periods could include 21 on-field practices across no more than seven total weeks, with neither period lasting longer than five.

For a staff installing offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s GO-GO offense and defensive coordinator Chris Marve’s system simultaneously, those extra reps are important. Colorado entered 2026 with only five returning starters, giving its rebuilt roster more time to learn before preseason camp.

The tradeoff comes later. Preseason camp would drop from 25 practices to 21 across a 27-day window, and schools would have to designate at least nine voluntary weeks when required activities are off limits. Colorado would gain time earlier, then have less of it once camp kicks off.

Week 0 brings another bye

Chris Marve installed a new Colorado defense in the same offseason Marion installed a new offense | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Colorado already opens on a Thursday at Georgia Tech this season. In 2027, that timing becomes the national starting point, with the regular season beginning on the Thursday of what is now Week 0 and ending the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The extra week also creates a second bye, a useful break for a Big 12 schedule that can send Colorado across several time zones in the same season. Recommended changes to off-campus recruiting are headed to the Cabinet in October as well.

The recruiting piece connects directly to the shorter portal window. Colorado has also pushed harder into high school recruiting, and Marion says that the evaluation process runs all the way through Sanders.

“Prime has been involved in every recruiting decision,” Marion said. “He’s watched every guy and verified with his eyes to make sure it's the right player coming into the program.”

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