Deion Sanders told his new Colorado team in the winter that he was bringing his own luggage. It would seem that once spring ball ended on Saturday, a huge chunk of the roster thought it necessary to pack their own.

Since the Buffaloes’ nationally-televised spring game on Saturday, 18 scholarship players have jumped into the transfer portal. Of those 18, 16 of them happened on Monday. The latest came from a pair of wide receivers — Grant Page and Ty Robinson. Their portal entries in particular signaled a benchmark point in the offseason timeline from the team.

As The Athletic’s Max Olson pointed out, Page and Robinson marked the last remaining scholarship wide receivers on the roster from the 2022 version of the Buffs. That room will be completely new in 2023.

It’s a truly remarkable stat, but it has been a truly remarkable roster overhaul for Sanders in his first offseason with the Colorado program.

“You all know that we’re going to move on from some of the team members and we’re going to reload and get some kids that we really identify with,” Sanders told reporters after Saturday’s spring game. “This process is going to be quick, it’s going to be fast, but we’re going to get it done.”

Monday’s departures included last year’s leading rusher (Deion Smith) and receiver (Jordyn Tyson). Wideout Montana Lemonious-Craig entered the portal one day after catching three balls for 154 yards and a touchdown in the spring game. These were not end-of-the-bench players.

But CU was a 1-11 team and Sanders doesn’t appear to have any intention of losing like that in 2023.

Which makes his flip of the roster all the more intriguing. As of publication, only 20 of the scholarship players on the 2022 roster remain with the team. (Or, at the very least, haven’t publicly announced they’re leaving.)

That kind of turnover is unprecedented at the Power Five level. Comparisons will be drawn to last year’s USC team, when Lincoln Riley brought in 20 transfers and flipped the Trojans from 4-8 to 11-3, but Sanders’ Colorado squad has several key distinctions.

For starters, sheer volume. For another, Riley brought the eventual Heisman winner to Los Angeles. And there was a former Biletnikoff receiver, a national champion from Alabama, and a freshman All-American who transferred in. CU isn’t recruiting the same types of players — though two-way standout Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders look promising.

Does it work in Year 1? Colorado had all eyes firmly fixed on it Saturday, and it snatched the national audience’s attention again on Monday. No doubt everyone will be tuning in on Sept. 2 when the CU team that takes the field will look as different from the year prior as just about any team in the history of college football.