College football realignment: Colorado now exploring Big 12 move, per reports
Colorado has moved into discussions about potentially leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12 Conference in what would be a bombshell move in the ongoing college football conference expansion process, according to multiple media reports.
Colorado held a board meeting on Wednesday and is scheduled to have another on Thursday reportedly to further discuss realignment in more detail. In addition, the Big 12 has also scheduled a meeting of university presidents with an update on expansion plans set to be part of the conversation.
Rumors around Colorado, Big 12
One report revealed that Colorado had plans to join the Big 12 "soon," and another pinpointed conversations going on between the school and the Big 12 for the past several months with things picking up recently.
And that's amid continued interest on the part of Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to expand his conference, as he teased plans for the league to embrace a more national presence after this year's spring meetings.
Colorado has gone on the record by saying it remains committed to the Pac-12 as that conference continues to look for new media partners, but with that search yet to yield any official results, the word is that schools are looking to possibly get out of the conference behind the scenes.
CU chancellor Phil DiStefano and athletic director Rick George have both said the school remains loyal to the Pac-12, but their remarks also seemed to leave open the possibility that it will make whatever decision has to be made in this market.
There is some concern as Pac-12 members continue to wait for the conference to sign a new media rights deal after losing landmark brands USC and UCLA to the Big Ten with the West Coast league yet to stabilize after that bombshell move.
Colorado knows the league
Colorado was a member of the Big 12 from 1996 to 2010, with seven of those years resulting in winning seasons.
Before then, CU was a member of the Big Eight dating back to 1948, playing its best football in the late 1980s under Bill McCartney and winning the college football national championship in the 1990 season.
The school has just one winning campaign since joining the Pac-12, when the Buffaloes went 10-4 in 2016.
And now the school is in the spotlight once again after hiring Deion Sanders to lead the football program, selling out its spring game, and all its season tickets for the first time in almost 30 years.
Big 12 wants to expand
The Big 12 has been public in its attempt to expand to the West Coast and increase its exposure in the Pacific media markets.
Reports connected the Big 12's interest to the two Arizona schools in addition to Utah and Colorado.
Related: Big 12 has new team on radar amid realignment rumors
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff took public issue with the Big 12's incursion into its territory, accusing that league of "trying to destabilize our remaining conference."
And if things don't trend in the right direction soon, the Big 12 could be in a position to do just that.
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams
Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks