Colorado Football's Post-Spring Game Mass Exodus Reflects Harsh Reality Of New Transfer Portal Era

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Deion Sanders' Colorado roster is going to look different come Week 1 against TCU than it does today. The first-year FBS head coach said so himself on multiple occasions during Saturday's sold-out spring game.

Part of that overhaul is because the Buffaloes' staff is going to continue to add talent through the transfer portal over the course of the next few weeks and months. Part of that overhaul is because the transfer portal is a two-way street.

No team in the country has seen more players enter the transfer portal during the 2023 offseason than Colorado. And it's not particularly close.

23 now-former Buffaloes entered the transfer portal prior to last Thursday, April 20. One entered on Friday.

Colorado played its spring game on Saturday. Its leading receiver from the weekend, Montana Lemonious-Craig, hit the portal on Sunday night.

16 (!!) players have since followed suit on Monday:

Most of those who left for the transfer portal in wake of the spring game are former three-star recruits, but their exit adds to an already significant number. The Buffaloes have now seen an FBS-high 40 (!!) players hit the portal since Coach Prime's arrival.

It seems like they took his advice seriously.

The players that Sanders doesn't want from the 1-11 team are leaving. It's all going according to plan!

Although the numbers out of Boulder are quite staggering, this is the new reality of college football. Player movement is more prevalent than ever.

This exodus serves as a great look at the modern era.

There are multiple components to how things have played out at Colorado.

All of these different factors led to the current state of Buffaloes football. It may seem staggering to have 37 players leave in a span of four months, because it is, but that's just how it's going to work these days. This is the new way of doing things, for both players and coaches.

Colorado may be the first, but it won't be the last. The new normal is here, get used to it!