The University of Colorado is leaving the uncertainty of the Pac-12 and returning to a Big 12 Conference looking to maintain its potency despite the impending departures of a pair of heavyweight programs.
Colorado announced Thursday that its board of regents unanimously approved the move, which will take effect in the 2024-25 academic year. That followed a reported unanimous vote by Big 12 member officials to accept the Buffaloes, who left the conference for the Pac-12 in 2011.
“After careful thought and consideration, it was determined that a switch in conference would give CU Boulder the stability, resources, and exposure necessary for long-term future success in a college athletics environment that is constantly evolving,” Colorado Chancellor Philip DiStefano and Athletic Director Rick George said in a joint statement. “The Big 12′s national reach across three time zones as well as our shared creative vision for the future we feel makes it an excellent fit for CU Boulder, our students, faculty, and alumni.”
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Colorado’s football team has posted losing records for most of the past two decades and is coming off a 1-11 season, but the program landed a jolt of star power with the hiring of Coach Deion Sanders, who brought all of his trademark bravado to Boulder. The Buffaloes will be joining the Big 12 just in time to help make up for the losses of Oklahoma and Texas, who are defecting to the SEC in 2024.
That year also will see Southern Cal and UCLA move to the Big Ten, a blow to the Pac-12 that may have convinced Colorado it needed to find firmer footing elsewhere. Perhaps not by coincidence, the Pac-12 has had trouble landing a TV contract to replace its current deal with ESPN and Fox that expires next year, although Commissioner George Kliavkoff said last week that his conference will “get our media rights deal done.” Kliavkoff also said at the time that he thought “the realignment that’s going on in college athletics will come to an end for this cycle,” but Thursday’s events in Boulder proved otherwise.
“The landscape of collegiate sports is ever-evolving, and the University of Colorado Boulder has determined the Big 12 is the best future fit for our athletic teams,” school president Todd Saliman said in a statement.
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The Big 12 inked a deal last year with ESPN and Fox that maintains their broadcast partnership until 2031 and will pay the conference over $2 billion starting in 2025. That agreement was widely seen as a coup for conference commissioner Brett Yormark, who was tasked with navigating the Big 12 through the choppy waters created by the departure of the powerhouse Sooners and Longhorns.
“There’s been no better time to be a part of the Big 12 than right now,” Yormark said this month. “And this thing is going to grow.”
The Big 12 began play in 1996 with all the members of the former Big Eight plus four members from the defunct Southwest Conference. After losing four schools, including Colorado, between 2011 and 2012 but adding TCU and West Virginia, the conference has had 10 teams since 2013 despite its name. The Big 12 grows to 14 teams this year with the additions of BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston, then will shrink to 13 in 2024 after Colorado partially offsets the losses of Oklahoma and Texas. The conference is thought to be interested in adding another school at that point to reach 14 members again, with the Athletic reporting that Yormark has his eyes on Connecticut, which competes in football as an independent and in the Big East in other sports. The Huskies’ men’s basketball team won the NCAA tournament in April.
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Before joining the Pac-12, Colorado had been a member of the Big 12 and its earlier iterations since 1947.
“Iowa State is thrilled to welcome the University of Colorado back into the Big 12 Conference,” Cyclones Athletic Director Jamie Pollard said Thursday in a statement. “The Cyclones and Buffaloes enjoyed a spirited rivalry for more than 60 years in the Big 7, Big 8 and early years of the Big 12, so we are excited to resume competing with them next year.”
Yormark echoed NBA legend Michael Jordan in stating simply of the Buffaloes: “They’re back.”
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