Colorado Leaving Pac-12 For Big 12, Further Weakening Fabled West Coast College Athletics League
Colorado is departing the shaky Pac-12 conference to rejoin its old friend the Big 12, a move which knocks another leg out from the West Coast athletic conference.
UCLA and USC have already announced they are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. This latest departure in the wake of an expiring television rights contract for the Pac-12 raises further questions about the league’s future status. The Pac-12 is now down to nine members.
Colorado left the Big 12 in 2011 to join the Pac-12.
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The Pac-12 said Thursday night that it plans to “embrace expansion opportunities” once it finalizes its new media rights deal. That deal has been promised for some time, but has not materialized, and likely was a factor in Colorado’s departure.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said at the conference’s media day event last Friday in Las Vegas that the league needed to complete its media rights deal before it could start exploring expansion opportunities of its own. The current deal expires in July 2024.
“We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth,” the statement says. “Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the Pac-12.”
Expansion candidates for the Pac-12 include San Diego State and SMU. Meanwhile, teams like Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Washington and Oregon are anxious about what their futures may hold.
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