Colorado officially announces return to Big 12 Conference

Colorado will leave the Pac-12 and return to the Big 12 Conference in 2024 after a 14-year hiatus, the university’s board of regents voted on Thursday.

Reports ran rampant throughout social media on Wednesday afternoon that the Buffs were looking to make the jump back to their former conference because of, as Brett McMurphy cited, “the Big 12’s stability & Pac-12’s uncertainty.” Late on Wednesday night, Big 12 presidents voted unanimously to accept Colorado into the conference.

Colorado will also receive the full amount ($31.7 million) to be paid for the Big 12’s new media rights deal with ESPN/FOX, per McMurphy

The news becomes another note amid many seismic changes head coach Deion Sanders has been a part of since taking over the program earlier this offseason. After acquiring 50 players from the transfer portal and losing even more, the bar has been set fairly low for Colorado in 2023.

With a year’s experience under Sanders’ belt coaching at a Power Five level heading into 2024, Colorado is expected to begin hanging with the big fish from there on out. For now, however, the Buffs are set to take on their full Pac-12 slate for 2023 before heading out of the conference alongside USC and UCLA, who are heading to the Big Ten themselves.

Colorado has a deep history in the Big 12

Because of Texas and Oklahoma’s dominance since the conference’s inception — Colorado actually comes into the league as one of the more decorated teams in the conference’s history out of all its active members. 

The Buffs rank No. 6 in all-time (60) in wins out of current Big 12 members (excluding Texas and OU) and have more conference wins than TCU (56), who just came off a College Football Playoff run, West Virginia (47) and Kansas (45). 

The Horned Frogs and Mountaineers came into the conference after the Buffs left for the Pac-12 in 2010, but the Jayhawks joined the conference with Colorado originally in 1996. After a 14-year hiatus from Colorado — Kansas still likely won’t come within 10 wins of the Buffs by the time they return. The same could be said about WVU.

If either Texas or Oklahoma wins the Big 12 Championship in 2023, Colorado will also enter their old conference tied for second-most in Big 12 Championships among active programs — with one, which they won back in 2001.

Baylor (2013, 2014, 2021) and Kansas State (2003, 2012, 2022) are the only two programs with more. The Buffs are knotted with Oklahoma State (2011) and TCU (2014) for second place — and if Sanders sticks with the program, who’s to say Colorado can’t win another?