No University of Colorado football players alleged to have participated in a sexual assault will be suspended from the team unless they are first charged with a crime, a CU spokesman said.

University and city police are investigating a student's allegation that she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party attended by university football players and recruits on Dec. 7. No charges have been filed.

A player who violated team rules at the party, such as the ban on underage drinking, could be disciplined whether or not he is charged with a crime, CU athletic department spokesman Dave Plati said Thursday.

But Plati said coach Gary Barnett might postpone any suspensions for team rule violations until after third-ranked Colorado plays No. 2 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1. Plati said there was a risk the public might incorrectly think a player suspended for a minor violation might have played a role in the alleged rape.

The team never offers public explanations when players are disciplined for violating team rules, Plati said.

Campus police are leading the investigation because the student approached them first. Boulder police are assisting.

Though campus police have taken the lead, city Police Chief Mark Beckner said, "We haven't given up total control of the case."

"Certainly if there was a question of whether charges should be filed and we thought they should and they thought they shouldn't, we would take control," Beckner said last week.