Months after hiring head coach Deion Sanders, the Colorado Buffaloes will reportedly be leaving the Pac-12 Conference and rejoining the Big 12 Conference in 2024.
Following the planned departures of USC and UCLA from the Pac-12, the conference’s future came into question. Amid increased uncertainty regarding the Pac 12 TV deal and the conference’s overall future, Colorado is on the verge of leaving.
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According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Big 12 presidents and chancellors voted unanimously on Wednesday night to accept the Buffaloes as the newest member of the conference.
While Colorado hasn’t officially applied to join the conference, the process could be finalized on Thursday. Once the Buffaloes formally apply for Big 12 membership, it will be one of the final steps before the program is officially welcomed into the conference.
The move coincides with the ongoing uncertainty regarding the Pac-12’s television deal and future media rights to games. The Big 12 has dramatically changed its conference structure in light of Texas and Oklahoma departing, creating a conference that will look very different in 2024.
In 2021, the Big 12 Conference announced Brigham Young University, the University of Houston, the University of Central Florida and the University of Cincinnati as its newest members. All four programs will officially be part of the conference for the 2024-’25 academic year.
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Colorado is returning to the Big 12 for the first time since 2010. When the Buffaloes were last in the conference, the Big 12 still had Oklahoma, Texas and the Missouri Tigers. Now, all three of those programs will be in the SEC by next year.
With Sanders and the Buffaloes poised to leave the conference after this upcoming season, long-term questions regarding the viability and growth potential of the Pac-12 Conference will ramp up even further.
