Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has a losing record in games that start at 7:30 p.m. ET or later.
Sanders, an early riser, has publicly expressed his dislike for late kickoffs.
Despite the team’s struggles, Colorado’s night games draw large television audiences for ESPN.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has a certain pet peeve that seems to torment him several times each season.
Night games.
He hates them.
And it shows.
Since his first season at Colorado in 2023, his overall record is 14-14. But in games that start at 7:30 p.m. ET or later, his record is 5-9.
In games that start before 7:30 p.m. ET, his record is the opposite – 9-5.
Sanders brought it up again after his team suffered a 36-20 loss at Houston in a game that started at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“Yeah, night games,” he said. “We get ourselves’ butt kicked at night We normally get our butts kicked at nights.”
Colorado now faces two consecutive games that start at 10:15 p.m. ET – Saturday Sept. 20 vs. Wyoming and Sept. 27 vs. Brigham Young, both on ESPN. The irony is that these night games are in ‘Prime Time,’ which is Sanders’ former nickname. ESPN also loves Sanders so much that it often puts his team in late time slots to get big audiences. And it works. The Houston game averaged 2.9 million viewers, making it the sixth-most watched game of the weekend.
What’s the deal with Deion Sanders and night games?
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.
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.
“Maybe because we’re a morning practice team,” Sanders said. “Maybe because when we even try to implement and change the schedule to accommodate the young men, to flip their bodies, the timetable and the sleep patterns and all that, we try to do everything we can to accommodate what’s going on. But we can’t place blame on what time the darn game is. They (opponents are) playing the same darn time we playing. They just get the upper hand.”
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.
Practice times are only part of the equation, however, along with a team’s talent and coaching. This week, Sanders said his team would practice in the evening to get ready for it. Meanwhile, ESPN is set to win either way.
Deion Sanders provides big late audiences for ESPN
Sanders previously complained about this last year before a 10:15 p.m. ET game at home against Kansas State, which his team lost, 31-28. He said on the Colorado Football Coaches Show then that he didn’t understand why television companies would want games to start that late, which is when he normally heads to bed.
“Why would you do that at that time when half of America is asleep?” he asked.
The answer is that plenty of viewers are awake to make it worthwhile for ESPN. That loss against Kansas State drew an average of 3.3 million viewers and was ESPN’s second-best Saturday late game since 2012.
In 2023, ESPN televised a game between Colorado and Colorado State that ended after 2 a.m. ET. It drew an average of 9.3 million viewers and was the most-watched late game ever on the network. Colorado won that won in overtime, 43-35.
Later that year, in 2023, Sanders ripped another late start vs. Stanford at 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local time in Boulder). He called it the ‘dumbest thing ever’ and ‘the stupidest thing ever invented in life.’
‘Who wants to stay up till 8 o’clock for a dern game?’ he asked.
His team didn’t, apparently. The Buffaloes jumped out to a 29-0 lead at halftime but lost in overtime as the night wore on, 46-43.
ESPN later announced the game drew 3.3 million viewers on average, making it ESPN’s best Friday night game since 2018.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com