Multiple reports indicate that Colorado may be moving closer toward seeking a return to the Big 12 Conference.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who first reported that the school held a university board of trustees meeting regarding “athletics operations” on Wednesday, reported that the university is in “deep discussions” about a move to the Big 12, and that a decision could come as early as Thursday during a public board meeting.
The Big 12 presidents and chancellors then voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept Colorado as a new member to the Power Five conference, according to Thamel, adding that Colorado has yet to formally apply for Big 12 membership.
That is expected to happen Thursday, per Thamel.
Colorado’s special board meeting on Thursday is scheduled for 3 p.m. MDT and will be live-streamed.
The public board meeting was scheduled moments after Wednesday’s meeting concluded, Thamel reported, and the agenda is listed as, “Action Item: Athletics Operations.” That action item, a board spokesman told ESPN, indicates that a vote will take place.
Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported similarly that Colorado will formally apply for Big 12 membership on Thursday, with the Big 12’s board of directors approving the move to happen in time for Colorado to compete in the league beginning with the 2024 season.
Thamel indicated Thursday’s meeting may end up being a formality.
“The key step remaining for Colorado will be to formally apply to the Big 12, which is typically done with a short e-mail. That application has not been made yet, according to sources. Public applications to a league are often considered formalities after all votes have been secured,” Thamel wrote.
There have been reports in recent months that Colorado, which has been a member of the Pac-12 Conference since 2011, may be considering a departure for the Big 12 and even met with the league in May.
This comes as the Pac-12 continues to work toward its next media rights deal — a process that has taken a year now, with the current TV deal expiring in 2024.
The lengthy amount of time these negotiations has taken reportedly have been a source of frustration for Colorado. When asked earlier this week about the TV deal, Buffaloes athletic director Rick George expressed frustrations about it, per Thamel.
“We are where we are,” George told ESPN. “We’ve just got to figure it out.”
In addition to a lack of resolution on the TV deal, McMurphy reported a few other reasons have led to Colorado seeking a move to the Big 12. They include the Big 12’s stability under commissioner Brett Yormark, a “more lucrative financial outlook” in the Big 12, and the uncertainty surrounding the Pac-12, with USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten in 2024.
McMurphy reported that Colorado — if it applies to and is accepted in the Big 12 — would receive $31.7 million each year in media rights revenue in the Big 12 once the league’s six-year media rights extension with ESPN and Fox begins in 2025. Colorado would also receive a full Big 12 revenue share in 2024, per McMurphy.
Colorado was an original member of the Big 12 when it formed in 1996. The Buffaloes, though, left for the Pac-12 in 2011, the same year that Utah joined from the Mountain West Conference.
Colorado’s expected departure to the Big 12 could also lead to a domino effect involving other Pac-12 teams leaving for the Big 12, with McMurphy reporting that Utah, Arizona and Arizona State are among the most likely candidates.
Expansion has been at the forefront of college athletics out west in recent years, and that continues in 2024 when the Pac-12 loses USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, while the Big 12 — which officially added BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston earlier this month — will see Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC.
Yormark, who orchestrated the deal for the Big 12 to extend its media rights deal last fall through 3031, told reporters at Big 12 football media days earlier this month that the league has a plan for expansion, while also saying the league would be happy staying at 12.
“We have a plan. And we have a plan for expansion. I’m not really going to address it today. Hopefully we can execute that plan sooner, rather than later,” Yormark said, as the Deseret News previously reported.
He later added: “If the opportunity presents itself where there’s something that creates value and aligns well with our goals and objectives starting with the board, then we’re certainly going to pursue it.”
During the Pac-12 football media day last Friday, commissioner George Kliavkoff declined to give an update on the league’s new media rights deal, instead trying to keep the focus on what is expected to be a competitive season on the field for the conference.
“The longer we wait for our media deal, the better our options are,” Kliavkoff said at the time, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The Pac-12 has explored expansion since news broke last year about USC’s and UCLA’s departure, though Kliavkoff said the focus for the conference is to finish the media rights deal first.
“Our sequence remains unchanged. First, we will conclude our media rights deals, then our schools will sign our grant of rights, which has already been negotiated, and only then will we decide on potential expansion,” he said.