Talk of Colorado heading to the Big 12 is ramping up as the conference convenes in West Virginia for league meetings.
CBS Sports reports that Colorado — currently a member of the Pac-12 — has been in “substantive” talks with the Big 12 about potentially joining the conference. With Texas and Oklahoma on the way out after this season, the Big 12 is already set to welcome new members BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 is already losing USC and UCLA next year when the schools move to the Big Ten, and the conference is having trouble nailing down a new media rights deal. The Big 12, on the other hand, in 2025 will begin a new six-year media rights package with ESPN and Fox worth a total of $2.28 billion.
Colorado athletic director Rick George was decidedly noncommittal on his school’s athletic future. “In a perfect world, we’d love to be in the Pac-12, but we also have to do what is right for Colorado at the end of the day,” he told CBS Sports.
With new coach Deion Sanders stoking excitement in Colorado, don’t expect the Buffaloes to stay still for much longer.
Bigger Is Better
This week, expansion will be a major theme for the Big 12, which is also reportedly exploring the possibility of adding Gonzaga and UConn to strengthen its basketball roster.
New commissioner Brett Yormark has made growing the league a major focus since taking over last year. “At the end of the day, I’m looking at this from a long-game perspective,” Yormark told Front Office Sports.
