Colorado returning to Big 12 in 2024

If this comes to fruition today or tomorrow the PAC 10 is done. This would leave them at 9 teams and to get back to 10 they'd have to grab a G5 team. They still don't have a media rights deal and the finances of the conference are in major jeopardy. I have to think that if the B1G is going for Oregon and Washington it will be shortly after this when we can negotiate diminished rights upon entry into the conference.

My guess is Utah, Oregon State, Washington State and the Arizona schools also flee to the Big 8. No clue what happens to Cal and Standford. Maybe one of them shuts it down.
 
Hadn't this been an on and off again rumor for a yr or more now since USC and UCLA did what they did? Makes sense Pac 12 was all but dying anyway and the Big 12 is desperate for something good to happen since Texas and Oklahoma left. Deion or no Deion this was gonna be happening so I'm sure some folks are going to want to pin this on him but I bet he had nothing to do with it. That's above his paygrade.
 
My google feed has this same story from a different source at least once a week. I will believe it when it is announced.

That said, I think it will happen eventually. The Little 12 seems more stable, which is bizarro indeed given that they just lost their best two teams and had to backfill with regional schools. The difference between the two conferences, however, is that The SEC and the Big 10 don't want any of the Big 12 schools that are left. They are all small turd schools. The Big 10 might be interested in more Pac 12 schools and can come and take them anytime it wants to. So, that creates the instability for the Pac 12 and so they can't get a new TV deal.

All this shit is dumb and I wish we could just all realignment over with now instead of this slow drip.

I think the Big 12 poaches Colorado, Utah, and the two Arizona schools. I don't see the Big 10 poaching anyone else in the near term. Does Oregon really add 100 million in value if they are added? I don't see it. You only cut up the pie if it adds more money.

Ultimately, I foresee the remainder of the Pac 12 eventually partnering with the ACC as two or three divisions of coastal schools that have a loose affiliation and a football championship game. It will be a third tier conference (because the SEC is going to poach Clemson and one of the Florida schools eventually)
 
NorthKCHawk said:
My google feed has this same story from a different source at least once a week. I will believe it when it is announced.

That said, I think it will happen eventually. The Little 12 seems more stable, which is bizarro indeed given that they just lost their best two teams and had to backfill with regional schools. The difference between the two conferences, however, is that The SEC and the Big 10 don't want any of the Big 12 schools that are left. They are all small turd schools. The Big 10 might be interested in more Pac 12 schools and can come and take them anytime it wants to. So, that creates the instability for the Pac 12 and so they can't get a new TV deal.

All this shit is dumb and I wish we could just all realignment over with now instead of this slow drip.

I think the Big 12 poaches Colorado, Utah, and the two Arizona schools. I don't see the Big 10 poaching anyone else in the near term. Does Oregon really add 100 million in value if they are added? I don't see it. You only cut up the pie if it adds more money.

Ultimately, I foresee the remainder of the Pac 12 eventually partnering with the ACC as two or three divisions of coastal schools that have a loose affiliation and a football championship game. It will be a third tier conference (because the SEC is going to poach Clemson and one of the Florida schools eventually)
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Clemson's fan base is probably smaller than Iowa's and the SEC already has their network on cable in South Carolina, so Clemson would have to look like it is accretive on a standalone basis as the world moves toward direct to consumer. I just don't see how it is possible for them to be financially attractive to the SEC. I don't want to disparage Clemson, they have a nice program, but they may really crater when Dabo leaves and I can't imagine the SEC would want to be saddled with a program like that. They're just in a bad spot because they're not really a blue blood and they don't have a gargantuan fan base.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Clemson's fan base is probably smaller than Iowa's and the SEC already has their network on cable in South Carolina, so Clemson would have to look like it is accretive on a standalone basis as the world moves toward direct to consumer. I just don't see how it is possible for them to be financially attractive to the SEC. I don't want to disparage Clemson, they have a nice program, but they may really crater when Dabo leaves and I can't imagine the SEC would want to be saddled with a program like that. They're just in a bad spot because they're not really a blue blood and they don't have a gargantuan fan base.
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Fair point. If I am the SEC, I don't see a lot of attractive expansion partners for the reasons you stated. Even consideration of Florida State, which has a huge fan base, is questionable because you already have that market.

The other thing that I hope that the Big 10 and SEC realize is that expansion can dilute the product at some point. 16 teams is already unwieldy.

I hope when the dust settles there are four viable major conferences. It seems regardless of what happens, there will be two major conferences in the SEC and Big 10 and then whatever comes next will be a step or two down. I would rather there be 2 relatively equal second tier conferences rather than two ok conferences (ACC and Big 12) and one really crappy one (Pac whatever).
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Fair point. If I am the SEC, I don't see a lot of attractive expansion partners for the reasons you stated. Even consideration of Florida State, which has a huge fan base, is questionable because you already have that market.

The other thing that I hope that the Big 10 and SEC realize is that expansion can dilute the product at some point. 16 teams is already unwieldy.

I hope when the dust settles there are four viable major conferences. It seems regardless of what happens, there will be two major conferences in the SEC and Big 10 and then whatever comes next will be a step or two down. I would rather there be 2 relatively equal second tier conferences rather than two ok conferences (ACC and Big 12) and one really crappy one (Pac whatever).
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Florida State is the only program in the ACC with a viable stand-alone fan base. UNC is close and if you include TV for the foreseeable future I have to think that UNC is the second most likely target for either the B1G or SEC. Everyone wants to get into the North Carolina market. Best thing that could happen would be for the ACC to absorb West Virginia and take Rutgers and Maryland from the B1G, then for the B1G to go out and get Oregon and Washington. Rest of PAC gets eaten by the Big 12. Boom, done. Try to get everyone to 16, make some 4 team pods to keep regional rivalries going.
 
www.google.com

Colorado board approves return to Big 12

The University of Colorado will leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 after the 2023-24 season, as the school formalized its future membership in the Big 12 on Thursday.
www.google.com www.google.com

It's official. Colorado BOR approve the move to leave the PAC and rejoin the Big 12 in 2024.
 
Colorado in the Pac12 was always an odd fit. Boulder is culturally more West Coast than Waco, but geographically it's more Big 12. 12 months ago all the prognosticators were saying the Big 12 was dead...looks to me like they're a survivor in the consolidation war, at least into the near future.
 
I question whether the Big wants Washington or Oregon. I like the idea that Notre Dame is the only school they would take.
 
Grady said:
Colorado in the Pac12 was always an odd fit. Boulder is culturally more West Coast than Waco, but geographically it's more Big 12. 12 months ago all the prognosticators were saying the Big 12 was dead...looks to me like they're a survivor in the consolidation war, at least into the near future.
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It all came down to the fact that the Big 12 got a media deal, albeit a smaller one, while the bubble was still puffing. The bubble has burst and the PAC 10 couldn't get a media deal done and now their conference will die. The SEC and B1G are in such a great spot, the others are in a terrible spot. We are very lucky that our team was able to ride such great coattails.
 
Will C said:
I question whether the Big wants Washington or Oregon. I like the idea that Notre Dame is the only school they would take.
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There was a rumor several months ago that the Big Ten has a contingent deal with ESPN for an "after dark" game on the west coast and that the deal would only come into being if there were a few more teams added. I think they'd need at least 6 teams out there to make it work, but maybe it could work with 4 if they only needed to provide 8 games during the season. Supposedly that deal would make a slight west coast expansion only slightly dilutive to the other teams rather than highly dilutive. My guess is we'll find out within a few weeks.
 
okeefe4prez said:
There was a rumor several months ago that the Big Ten has a contingent deal with ESPN for an "after dark" game on the west coast and that the deal would only come into being if there were a few more teams added. I think they'd need at least 6 teams out there to make it work, but maybe it could work with 4 if they only needed to provide 8 games during the season. Supposedly that deal would make a slight west coast expansion only slightly dilutive to the other teams rather than highly dilutive. My guess is we'll find out within a few weeks.
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Washington/Oregon and USC/UCLA seem to make sense. You could double up road trips for non-rev sports. Basketball weekends would be interesting playing USC/UCLA back to back or Oregon/Washington. Arizona/ASU make sense for the same reason.
 
If the conference is going to expand more, I'd make Oregon and Washington sit for a year or so in the tattered remains of the Pac Whatever. Then offer them membership in the conference at 50% of the revenue. Let desperation set in.

Personally, I would be done with expansion and I would tell Notre Dame to jump in a lake. 16 is already too big. At some point you are not a conference. You are a league.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Personally, I would be done with expansion and I would tell Notre Dame to jump in a lake. 16 is already too big. At some point you are not a conference. You are a league.
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I felt that way when we went 6 years without playing freaking Illinois and the first time I saw Maryland on our schedule.
 
Makes sense. They should consider a conference for the schools located in that region. It'd make travel a lot easier, including for the fans, and there might be some nice border rivalries as well. Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State - hell, maybe it'd make sense to remove Missouri from the SEC and Nebraska from the Big Ten and throw them in there, too.
 
There seems to be zero interest by B1G Ten university presidents to expand with Oregon and Washington.

would they be attractive to XII ?

would they be attractive to SEC? - what if the SEC grabs O and W ?
 
BigD said:
Washington and the Oregon schools are obviously heading to one of the BIG conferences. I am sure they are hoping it’s 10 over 12.
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I heard an interesting take recently, that UCLA and USC probably would prefer Oregon and Washington not be in the B1G, but I also doubt they have the cachet to stop their joining if the rest of the conference wants them onboard. I think their addition would be my ideal outcome, and I'd always love to see Notre Dame join.
 
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