Enticing Colorado to return gives the Big 12 a short-term psychological boost after its loss of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, if not a marquee football program (CU's record is 44-73, .376, over the past 10 years). The upcoming debut of former star player Deion Sanders as the Buffs' coach has created some excitement, though.
The loss of Colorado, meanwhile, is a major embarrassment for the Pac 12 (in the short term, at least), as the move highlights the Pac 12's failure to land a new television deal. The Buffs' move is widely attributed to the Big 12's deal. According to the Associated Press:
Colorado is expected to get $31.7 million in annual TV revenue in the Big 12, which last year came to an agreement with ESPN and Fox on a six-year extension worth more than $2 billion that runs through 2030-31.
As shown in the following map, Colorado is not far from the Big 12's main geographic cluster of schools running from Kansas down through Texas (underlined schools are new members that will be joining the conference this fall or the year after).
Assuming the Big 12 wants an even number of schools, it will need to add one member (to go up to 14) or more to go higher. Landing additional Pac-12 schools such as Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and/or ASU would certainly boost the Big 12's stature.
Another question for the conference is the excitement value of matchups between teams that are geographically distant and have no history of sports competition. BYU vs. Central Florida, anyone?
CU's departure leaves the Pac 12 with only nine schools, so the conference will need to bring in some new ones to get back to a respectable size. The school that has gotten the most attention is San Diego State, which would fill the Pac 12's void in southern California (although with nowhere near the cache of UCLA and USC). On the positive side, SDSU has built a new football stadium and the Aztec men's basketball team made the NCAA national championship game this past spring.
Other candidates for Pac-12 expansion include Southern Methodist University (giving the Pac 12 a foothold in Texas), Boise State, Fresno State, and UNLV.
