Colorado officially moving to the Big 12 in 2024

In a special meeting Thursday, Colorado's board of regents unanimously voted to move athletic operations to the Big 12 and formally applied for Big 12 membership. That decision came one day after the Big 12’s presidents and chancellors voted unanimously to accept Colorado as a new member.

“After careful thought and consideration, it was determined that a switch in conference would give CU Boulder the stability, resources, and exposure necessary for long-term future success in a college athletics environment that is constantly evolving,” chancellor Phil DiStefano and athletic director Rick George said in a joint statement Thursday. “The Big 12’s national reach across three time zones as well as our shared creative vision for the future we feel makes it an excellent fit for CU Boulder, our students, faculty, and alumni.

"These decisions are never easy and we’ve valued our 12 years as proud members of the Pac-12 Conference. We look forward to achieving new goals while embarking on this exciting next era as members of the Big 12 Conference.”

Colorado joins Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Central Florida, BYU, Texas Tech and Houston in the Big 12's new six-year, $2.28 billion deal with ESPN and Fox Sports — starting in 2025 — that will pay each school nearly $32 million each.

The Pac-12 media rights deal with ESPN, Fox and the Pac-12 Networks expires leading up to the 2024 football season, leaving Colorado without an exit fee.

"We think that the time has come for us to change conferences," president Todd Saliman said.

This move come less than a week after Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff met with Pac-12 schools to provide an update on media rights negotiations, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Media deal negotiations with the Pac-12 have been ongoing for a year now, but as of last week, Kliavkoff has yet to present schools with numbers for a potential deal.

“I will tell you what we've seen is the longer we wait for the media deal, the better our options get,” Klivakoff said at Pac-12 Media Day. “I think our board realizes that.”

As confidence in a deal getting done waned, athletic director Rick George and chancellor Phil DiStefano left the door open for the Pac-12 to present details for a deal. However, behind closed doors, Colorado held conversations with Big 12 officials that ultimately presented CU with a deadline to make a decision.

“The timing of the impending move — late July — is not coincidence,” Dellenger said. “During discussions with Colorado, Big 12 officials set a deadline for the Buffaloes to make a decision by Tuesday.”

The narrative of the collapse of the Pac-12 is becoming more imminent with the departure of Colorado. Rumors of other Pac-12 programs following suit, namely Arizona and Arizona State, may come to fruition due to Kliavkoff’s lack of progress on a new media rights deal.

With the departures of USC, UCLA and now Colorado, the Pac-12 has lost three members and doesn't have a ton of obvious replacements that could maintain the conference's value to TV partners. However, even as programs are packing their bags, Kliavkoff remains steadfast.

“I see the commitment all of our schools have to each other,” he said. “I also kind of know where the sources of [a potential collapse] is coming from.

“I discount that because I know the truth.”