The Colorado Springs Gazette final

Shake-up in college sports

Proposed move could have Colorado ramifications

BY BRENT BRIGGEMAN brent.briggeman@gazette.com

If the Pac-12 loses USC and UCLA, as multiple reports suggest, the reverberations could ripple to Colorado schools.

It is possible that Colorado’s trip to Falcon Stadium in September will be a preview of more to come. And it’s conceivable that the Rocky Mountain Showdown could soon take on conference implications.

Or it’s in the realm of possibility that the Buffaloes could in some form re-team with their former Big 12 partners.

For the second consecutive summer, a shakeup in college sports will send reverberations that will impact the Centennial State’s programs and the directions the dominoes might fall could leave the landscape drastically altered in this region.

It started this time with multiple reports surfacing Thursday morning that UCLA and USC are leaving the Pac12 for the Big Ten. The move, should it become finalized, would leave the Pac-12 with ten programs. Among those is Colorado, which has been a member since 2011 when it left the Big 12.

It’s possible a Pac-12 with 10 teams could remain at that number. It was, after all, formerly known as the Pac-10. It’s also possible that it could consider some form of alliance or merger with the Big 12, which will soon be poached of Oklahoma and Texas in a move

announced about 11 months ago. A super conference may be the Pac-12/big 12’s best shot at remaining competitive with the ever-expanding Big Ten and SEC.

If the Pac-12 opts to expand, expect Air Force and Colorado State to be among the first to raise their hands. Both programs sought entry into the Big 12 when it expanded in the last decade. And when the AAC sought new members last year, the Falcons, Rams and fellow Mountain West programs Boise State and San Diego State were the top targets.

“Air Force is a member of the Mountain West and as such, we will withhold from making any comments on the membership happenings of other conferences,” Air Force athletic director Nathan Pine said in a statement to The Gazette. “We will of course monitor the situation closely as it unfolds.”

If the Pac-12 replaces only the two programs that are said to be leaving, Boise State and San Diego State would figure to earn strong consideration. Fresno State could perhaps work into that conversation as well. If two of those teams leave, it is possible the Falcons and Rams might rethink their decision to stay with the Mountain West last year and reach out to the AAC once again.

Or, maybe the Mountain West programs will lock arms and attempt to overtake the Pac-12 as the top conference in the west. But discrepancies in current athletic budgets and endowments would make that easier said than done despite the Mountain West’s 16-24 overall mark (13-12 in bowl games) against the Pac12 since 2016 which suggests it was already holding its own.

Air Force (5-3), Boise State (7-4) and San Diego State (7-2) hold winning all-time records against the Pac-12. Colorado State (5-13) lags behind in large part due to Colorado’s 7-2 record in the Rocky Mountain Showdown since joining the Pac-12.

Don’t discount the Big 12 plucking a few teams from the Pac-12 without a full merger. That could leave the Pac-12 in a position where it’s best bet might be to absorb much of the Mountain West. Or the other way around.

The only certainty following Thursday’s news is that the college sports landscape will see changes of some sort. Again.

FRONT PAGE

en-us

2022-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/282106345334089

The Gazette, Colorado Springs