Colorado votes to join Big 12 in major college football realignment move

Colorado has entered the transfer portal: College football conference expansion strikes again as the Buffs will reunite with the Big 12 in a stunning decision

Colorado has voted unanimously to leave the Pac-12 after this season and become a member of the Big 12 Conference effective for the 2024-25 academic year in a bombshell move that marks the next phase of historic college football conference realignment.

The landmark decision follows some intense speculation over the past several months with rumors flying back and forth that Colorado was interested in leaving the Pac-12 and that the Big 12 was the likely destination, amid reports that reps from both sides had been in private conversations on the subject.

Those rumors were confirmed as fact when Big 12 presidents and chancellors voted unanimously to accept Colorado as a new member during a conference call that took place on Wednesday night. A 9-0 vote by the Colorado Board of Regents followed the next day, confirming the school's intention to join the Big 12.

"We think the time has come for us to change conferences," Colorado president Todd Saliman said during the Board of Regents meeting.

CU chancellor Phil DiStefano added: "[Athletic director] Rick George and I are of the strong belief that a move to the Big 12 will set up CU Boulder for long-term stability and will also provide added exposure."

Colorado's move comes amid efforts by the Pac-12 to acquire a new media rights deal, a process that is yet to yield any official announcements, and plenty of tension behind the scenes with some member schools expressing concern at the lack of a new contract or apparent interest from broadcast networks.

And it comes as the Big 12 has been public with its desire to add new members in its own expansion project as a reaction to losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark hasn't been shy about saying his league was open for business and a reunion with Colorado is one major piece in that process.

By leaving after the end of the 2023 football season, coinciding with the end of the current Pac-12 media deal, Colorado will avoid paying the Pac-12 an exit fee that would run into the millions for leaving the conference.

Colorado returns to the Big 12

Colorado was a member of the Big 12 from its inception in 1996 to 2010, with seven of those years resulting in winning seasons.

Before then, CU was a member of the Big Eight dating back to 1948, playing its best football in the late 1980s under Bill McCartney and winning the college football national championship in the 1990 season.

The school has just one winning campaign since joining the Pac-12, when the Buffaloes went 10-4 in 2016.

And now the school is in the spotlight once again after hiring Deion Sanders to lead the football program, itself a major move that has thrust Colorado back into the national spotlight amid the coach's radical roster re-build, with dozens of players leaving and entering the program via the transfer portal, and a sizable increase in interest from fans and media.

What's next for the Pac-12

The future of the Pac-12 Conference has been a subject of intense speculation ever since the news broke that USC and UCLA were planning to join the Big Ten. With the departure of the schools in the league's biggest media market, insiders have warned that the conference was in danger of collapsing.

Now, losing a third school to a rival league will not tamper down that kind of talk, especially with more rumors emerging that some or all of the remaining so-called Four Corners schools — Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State — may follow the Buffaloes to the Big 12 at some point in the future.

Related: What schools could move next?

And even more so given that insiders have long reported that informal talks have taken place between Oregon and Washington and officials from the Big Ten. 

With the expansion market back open for business and the state of the Pac-12 seriously weakened again, we could see a revival of interest in those markets, too.

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