Prior to head coach Deion Sanders being hired in December of 2022, the Colorado football program had not sold out of season tickets in more than 25 years.

Now, the Buffaloes have done it three years in a row, according to a BuffZone source at CU.

Sanders’ third season with the Buffaloes kicks off Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech (6 p.m., ESPN) at Folsom Field. The home slate includes seven games at Folsom Field for the first time since 1982.

Last year, CU sold approximately 23,000 season tickets, and 98% of those have been renewed for this year. This is the third year in a row where the Buffs’ season ticket renewal rate finished above 98%, the three best marks in school history. CU was at 93% on renewals in 2016 and 96% in 2017, but was in the mid- to low-80s in 2021 and 2022.

CU will distribute approximately 26,000 season tickets this year, about 3,000 more than last year.

Before Sanders was hired, giving the struggling program a jolt of energy, CU had not sold out of season tickets since 1996. In fact, the Buffs had sold out of season tickets just eight times in its history before Sanders’ arrival: in 1972, and seven consecutive years from 1990-96.

This is the third year in a row that CU’s season tickets were sold out before June.

CU had never sold out of season tickets before August prior to Sanders’ tenure.

In addition to the season tickets, CU will offer student sports passes. Last year, around 12,000 were offered to students.

Single game tickets went on sale to the public earlier this week. Those can be purchased at CUBuffs.com.Following the opener against Georgia Tech, the Buffs will host Delaware on Sept. 6 (1:30 p.m., Fox). The slate at Folsom Field also includes games against Wyoming on Sept. 20 (time TBD); BYU on Sept. 27 (8:15 p.m., ESPN); Iowa State on Oct. 11 (time TBD); Arizona on Nov. 1 (time TBD); and Arizona State on Nov. 22 (time TBD).

Academic success

CU athletics continues to set records academically.

On Friday, CU announced that its 342 student-athletes recorded the highest spring GPA (3.264) in school history, pushing the cumulative GPA to 3.294, also a school record.

Three CU teams had a GPA above 3.7, the three highest team GPAs on record (since 1996).

The women’s ski team recorded the highest team GPA (3.825) in school history, the first team to reach 3.8.

“I am very proud of our student athletes, coaches and Herbst academic staff led by Kris Livingston for this great accomplishment,” athletic director Rick George said in a news release.

“We have created a great culture around our academic program and we are seeing the results of that effort year after year.”

The CU football team had a GPA of 2.957, the best spring GPA ever for the program. The only semester with a better GPA for the football team was a 3.011 last fall.

Over 68% of CU student-athletes had a 3.0 GPA in the spring with 46% over a 3.5 GPA and 39 achieved a perfect 4.0 for the semester.