When Oklahoma and Texas announced they would be abandoning the Big-12 for the greener pastures of the SEC, it threw the college football world into a dramatic state of flux unlike anything we’ve seen in over a decade, and now the Colorado Buffaloes might be on the move.
The Buffs joined the Pac-12 along with the Utah Utes in 2011, after spending 63 years with the Big-12 and Big Eight, and the fit has always been a little awkward, with many Boulder fans regularly clamoring for a return to their old dominion. Those fans could have their utopic dreams realized, according to a recent report from Greg Swaim of The Swaim Show — an Oklahoma-based sports radio program.
BREAKING: Nothing becomes official until the #Pac12 gets their TV deal finalized, but now multiple sources tell us tonight that the #Buffs and #BearDown will move to the #Big12. No word on the #Utes and #SunDevils, but Yormark may just take two and save some spots for #ACC teams.
— GREG SWAIM SHOW (@GSwaim) June 4, 2023
The selection of Arizona over Utah feels a little surprising, considering Arizona’s location proximity to the two conferences, as well as their history with the Pac-12. That said, considering the Wildcats’ basketball pedigree, and the immense size of their fan base, it seems sensible that the Big-12 would prefer that addition.
If Swaim’s report is right, the Colorado Buffaloes would be joining the conference at an ideal time. Their re-joining would come just a season or two after Oklahoma and Texas head for the SEC — removing the conference’s two greatest powers.
Oklahoma State, TCU, Baylor, Cincinnati and UCF have all boasted top-10 teams in recent years, but it’s impossible to lump those squads in with the conference’s legacy blue bloods.
As a result, the Colorado Buffaloes could potentially take advantage of that power vacuum to raise their own status.
This report also amplifies the importance of the football season-opener against TCU, as it could give us a glimpse of what’s soon to come.
Lastly, one minor and less important (yet, still interesting) aspect of this is, ‘what happens to the Buffs’ rivalries?’
The rivalry with Colorado State is on life support, as Colorado’s football program is set to play them just eight times between now and the end of 2038. The same could be said for the legendary Nebraska rivalry. Although there’s been a recent effort to re-spark the bad blood, with the two football programs playing four times in seven seasons, from 2018 to 2024, but the two programs have zero meetings scheduled after that 2024 duel.
Now, the newfound rivalry with Utah could be headed the same way.
The obvious Big-12 replacements would likely be BYU or Arizona. They’ll be the two closest Big-12 schools to the Boulder campus, and will also be without an obvious Big-12 rival themselves. The Pac-12 history with the Wildcats probably makes them the most likely answer.
If the Colorado Buffaloes end up making this leap, it will just be another step in the remarkable turnaround the school’s athletics department has seen since hiring Coach Prime.
