Colorado's Deion Sanders wants spring football games vs. opponent - ESPN

Colorado coach Deion Sanders wants the NCAA to consider borrowing from the NFL model and allow programs to practice and scrimmage against another team during the spring.

«I would actually like to play the spring game against another team, in the spring. That's what I'm trying to do right now,» Sanders said Monday after announcing that the Buffaloes' spring game at Folsom Field on April 19 will be televised (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. ET).

«I would like to style it like the pros. I'd like to go against someone [in practice] for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously. I think it's a tremendous idea. I've told those personnel, who should understand that, that it's a tremendous idea.»

During the summer, NFL teams often conduct joint practices with another team for a week leading up to an exhibition game between the two sides. In college, teams practice against themselves leading up to an intrasquad scrimmage. For larger programs, those exhibition games would be played in front of large crowds.

Of late, however, many of these spring games are being adjusted into something completely different — such as a skills competition format — or canceled altogether.

Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC are among programs ending traditions this spring.

«The way the trend is going, is you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,» said the 57-year-old Sanders, who is entering his third season at Colorado. «Now, I don't believe in that, and I don't really want to condone that.… To have it competitive, and to play against your own guys, it can get kind of monotonous, and you really can't tell the level of your guys.»

The Cornhuskers recently announced that