The Colorado Buffaloes are preparing to face the No. 23-ranked UCLA Bruins this weekend. The game will take place at the legendary Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
It’s the Bruins’ 2023 homecoming, and with the Rose Bowl capable of holding nearly 90,000 fans, the team usually cuts off its attendance at just over 67,000.
In fact, the only time the legendary facility is filled to its nearly 90K capacity is for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day every year.
Deion Sanders First Game Against UCLA Bruins In Rose Bowl
That won’t change with Pro Football Hall of Famer and first-year Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders coming into town for Saturday evening’s tilt. But the crowd will be more than the original 67,066 fans originally expected.
Those tickets sold out, and there had to be over 3,000 more seats added, bringing the total number of fans for the game to nearly 71,000. That’s nothing more than the Coach Prime effect that’s been sweeping the college football scene this season.
LA Times reporter Ben Bolch posted this on X — formerly known as Twitter — earlier this week.
“USC is now removing the two outside tarps at each end for Saturday’s game against Colorado at the Rose Bowl, putting capacity at 70,865. That’s more than 3,000 above the previous figure released last week.”
Buffs Making History Weekly
Not only are the Buffaloes packing Folsom Field, their home field among the scenic Rocky Mountains, but they’re also selling out road games as well.
With Saturday’s sellout, the Buffaloes have now had one in each of their eight games this season.
That’s a program record, and not to be outdone, this will be their fifth game this season on a national network (ABC), also a program record.
That’s got everything to do with Deion Sanders, who took over a 1-11 program, and in year one has them two wins from being bowl eligible. That has caught the eye of Saturday’s opposing coach, Chip Kelly.
Bruins Coach Praises Coach Prime
Coming off Colorado’s heartbreaking 46-43 double-overtime loss to Stanford on Oct. 13, in which it led 29-0 at halftime, Bruins head coach Chip Kelly was still singing the program’s praises in his Monday media session.
“They were 1-11 last year, and they’ve won four games this year,” Kelly said. “It’s working, Deion has done a great job there. He’s great. He’s done an unbelievable job. He’s great for college football. The attention and buzz he’s brought to this game is great. I also admire him. He’s a little bit old school in terms of his approach in how he does things. It’s really impressive what he’s doing.”
Kelly’s assessment of Sanders and the program are a far cry from what opposing coaches were saying about him and his team earlier this season. Kelly has nothing but respect and admiration for Sanders and his team.
