Colorado Was Far From ‘Perfect Match’ On Football Field In Pac-12

Naturally, gladhanding and kind words overflow when a conference welcomes a new school. It goes with the territory and was no exception in June 2010 when it was announced Colorado would join the Pac-10 the following summer.

“This is a historic moment for the conference, as the Pac-10 is poised for tremendous growth,” said then-commissioner Larry Scott, whose conference also added Utah and would become the Pac-12. “The University of Colorado is a great fit for the conference both academically and athletically and we are incredibly excited to welcome Colorado to the Pac-10.”

Said then-Colorado president Bruce Benson, “The University of Colorado is a perfect match — academically and athletically — with the Pac-10. Our achievements and aspirations match those of the universities in the conference and we look forward to a productive relationship.”

Colorado has been anything but productive as a Pac-12 member where it matters most: on the gridiron. Far from a “perfect match,” the Buffaloes have been badly overmatched in a conference that has made precious little noise in the College Football Playoff era.

While Deion Sanders may or may not realign the compass of a program he was given free rein to overhaul a year before it returns to the Big 12, Colorado looked out for its interests by re-joining a conference that has reacted to the loss next year of Texas and Oklahoma by adding UCF, Cincinnati and Houston this year and CU next summer.

Of course, there is also the money. Colorado will benefit from the conference’s media rights deal with Fox/ESPN that pays $31.7 million annually to each member institution. The deal was announced last fall and extends through 2031. Indeed, the bottom line seems to always rise to the top among boxes to be checked, doesn’t it? Especially when the conference from which Colorado is departing currently does not have a long-term deal in place and will lose the Los Angeles market with the departure of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten effective next year.

While the grass suddenly appears much greener in Boulder, years of ineptitude have left many seeing red. How bad has it been? The Buffaloes did not exactly join the Pac-12 with a running start. After Dan Hawkins led them to an Independence Bowl berth in 2007, they won only 13 games and went 6-18 in conference play during their final three seasons as a member of the Big 12.

As we know, things did not get any better in the Pac-12. In fact, Colorado was an unsightly 5-40 in conference play during its first five seasons. There was a momentary pivot under Mike MacIntyre in 2016, the coach’s fourth year in Boulder, when the Buffaloes won 10 games and a South Division title. That marks the lone winning full season – the Buffaloes were 4-2 in virus-shortened 2020 – for Colorado since joining the Pac-12.

Meanwhile, the Big 12 has since undergone much change and will be a far different conference than the one Colorado left. The school, which joined the then-Big 7 in 1947 – the conference became known as the Big 8 with the addition of Oklahoma State in 1960 — and spent the final 14 of its 63 years as a member in the rebranded Big 12 following the addition of four former Southwest Conference institutions in 1996, will be part of a conference that will bridge three time zones next season.

Though there will not be a renewal of the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry with Nebraska, which left the Big 12 for the Big Ten the same year Colorado departed, or battles for the Bronze Boot with Missouri, which bolted for the SEC in 2012, the Buffaloes will reacquaint with Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Baylor.

Playing conference games against teams from Oklahoma and Texas once again can only help with recruiting. That alone makes returning to the Big 12 far more appealing than being in the Pac-12 ever was.