BOULDER, Colo. — After nearly a year of will they, won't they, the Colorado Buffaloes reportedly will apply for membership to the Big 12 conference starting in 2024, and a vote by Big 12 presidents has already taken place. Colorado will receive a full share of the Big 12's media rights deal, landing them $31.7M per year.
The move is a huge blow to the Pac-12, who lost USC and UCLA over a year ago and were unable to reach a new media deal before losing out on the opportunity to add San Diego State from the Mountain West.
The most critical step now for the conference, according to Locked on Pac-12 host Spencer McLaughlin, is to immediately convince the rest of the member schools to stand pat - while having to restart negotiations for a new media rights deal.
"They now have to go back and seemingly restart on [the media rights deal]," McLaughlin said. "But priority number one for the Pac-12 has to be stopping anyone else from leaving and convincing them that the Pac is the place to be."
Dropping from 10 to nine members is obviously a huge issue, but if the conference can keep everyone else together and can make a deal with San Diego State to join in the future the conference could be salvageable, but there is no doubt other programs like Arizona, Oregon, and Washington are starting to explore alternatives as well.
Should the Big 12 land anyone else from the Pac-12 it would likely spell the end of the conference as we know it, and while a potential merge with the Mountain West or even a cross-country alliance with the ACC could be in the cards - losing any more big brands may sway the ACC away from any kind of deal.
This story is continuing to develop, with the Pac-12 in full scramble mode to salvage what is left of the conference of champions.