Colorado Officially Announces Intentions For Big 12 Move: This Could Be The First Of Many Dominoes, Tough Decisions Ahead For Pac-12

Colorado has officially made the decision to leave the Pac-12 for the Big-12 in a move voted on Thursday afternoon. In what turned out to be a whirlwind recruitment of the Buffaloes, AD Rick George went for stability in light of recent problems in its own conference.

This move signals a pretty damning blow to Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who last week was preaching that each team was sticking together. Now, after almost a year of struggling to find a television deal, Colorado is another letdown for a once prominent conference. No, I'm not implying that the Buffaloes are some type of world beaters. But, having Deion Sanders breath new life in the football program certainly makes them a team worth paying attention to.

During the Board of Regents meeting, Colorado chancellor Philip P. DiStefano said the following about the move.

"A move to the Big 12 will set Colorado up for long-term stability and will also provide added exposure."

Also, Colorado president said that 'The time has come to change conferences', during the meeting with members. Buffaloes regent Ken Montera noted that 'I look forward to us dominating the Big 12 again'.

In terms of AD Rick George, the move to the Big 12 was further exemplified when he said that 'FOX and ESPN is who we want to be aligned with' when it comes to a television deal. This should be taken as a clear sign that he did not like what he was being told behind closed doors about the Pac-12's future television home.

Also, it's not as if Colorado was blind to what was happening when it comes to negotiations within the Pac-12 for its next media rights deal. Rick George is smart enough and knows enough people to get an inside look at where things were headed, which he clearly did not like for the future of Colorado athletics.

The Big-12 conference had only two words to say about the Colorado news.

Additionally, the fact that this will be the last season for USC and UCLA under the Pac-12 banner, this has been a rough year for George Kilavkoff. The Big-12 has added additional teams to soften the blow of Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC. Adding teams that bring viewers was the right step after the loss of two powerhouse programs.

Also, the television deal that the Big-12 negotiated is also another point of stability for Colorado, and others to join. The Buffaloes will immediately see the financial impact of the move pay-off, with an estimated $31.7 million per year in its first season within the Big-12.

At the end of the day, the Pac-12 kept pushing off an announcement of a media rights deal they don't have. It was every few weeks that someone from the Pac-12 mentioned how close they were to announcing a new deal, which has gone on for almost eight months now.

So at the end, Colorado called their bluff and decided the future of its athletic program was in better hands under Big-12 commissioner Brett Yormark.

Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes watches as his team warms up prior to their spring game at Folsom Field on April 22, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Will The Big-12 Expand Beyond Colorado In The Near Future

The easy answer to this question is absolutely. Does this mean that Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and potentially one more school would make the jump? The addition of Colorado puts the conference at thirteen teams headed into the 2024-2025 season, so the Big-12 would surely like to get this number up to at least fourteen, or even sixteen teams.

In talking with multiple sources regarding the future, the Big 12 would like to poach a few more teams from the Pac-12. Now, whether that is Arizona, Utah, Arizona State is still up for debate, though they'd love to have all three. If they don't succeed at grabbing at least one, then focus could shift to a number of other schools.

One of the bigger questions over the past few months has also circled around the basketball side of things within the conference. Would the Big-12 add a team like UConn or Gonzaga to further strengthen its competition? There's a chance this could happen, but if the conference were to add Arizona, this could be enough for the time being, though I don't think that will be the end-game.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There's also the chance that the Big-12 could go back to ESPN and FOX to restructure its deal with additional schools joining. This is one element of the whole conversation that isn't lost on the conference.

But make no mistake about it, this is a massive day for the Big-12 and its current, along with new members. Additional teams, the right ones, will continue to add to the overall power of a conference that could make a run at third best, behind the ACC.

What's Next For The Pac-12, Member Schools, Television Deal?

The looming question for Pac-12 member institutions is what's next? Will there be a few more schools that are poached from the conference after Colorado made the jump? That answer will depend on how quick commissioner George Kilavkoff moves to secure a television deal. But, there could still be schools looking for another landing spot, even with a comparable revenue share.

A situation where one or two more schools jumping ship would be a disaster. Will the Pac-12 circle back to San Diego State in hopes of gaining somebody to take the place of Colorado? These two are not the same in terms of household recognition and hinging your television deal on them joining wouldn't move the needle much. But, Colorado moving on is not going to damper a media deal, though it doesn't help the overall look.

The problem for San Diego State is the $34 million in exit fees it would owe the Mountain West conference, also knowing they tried to pull this move off just a month ago. The biggest priority should be making Oregon and Washington happy, which would mean an uneven revenue share within the Pac-12.

Either way, there are a number of decisions to make regarding the future of a once prominent conference. Now, it's all about Colorado taking the next step towards its stability on a national stage.

As you can tell, there will be more news about expansion over the next few months or weeks, heading towards an expanded playoff, along with new media deals.