Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Good Move, Good Fit, Even Better Timing
June 11, 2010
Against a magnificent natural backdrop of the Flatirons, and with CU and Pac-10 logos alternately flashing on end zone video screens at Folsom Field, new Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott welcomed the Buffs into his league just before noon on Friday.
Earlier in the morning, CU's Board of Regents voted 9-0 to accept the Pac-10's membership offer, plucking CU out of the Big 12 Conference by the 2012-13 academic year or possibly before if dictated by dramatic change in the Big 12.
"I've had many tough, agonizing votes as a regent . . . this is not one of them," Regent Michael Carrigan said.
The unanimous vote was taken after Chairman Steve Bosley gazed across a crowd gathered in Folsom Field's East Side Stadium Club and noted, "I only see smiling faces all around."
For the preceding 24 hours - or since news of the move was delivered at mid-morning Thursday - CU's impending trek West has generated unbridled excitement among Buffs fans, alumni, former players, coaches and administrators.
It comes at a most opportune time, a time when an across-the-board galvanizing of the Buffs was needed, theorized former quarterback Joel Klatt.
"If there was ever a time when . . . CU essentially needed to reevaluate the expectations and vision of the athletic department, it's right now," Klatt said. "This is fantastic, plus I'm so proud of the leadership of the university because they didn't wait for others to do what they wanted to do. They said, 'This is what's best for Colorado and we're going to do it because of that - and not because we're just trying to find a place.'
"I think that's the thing I like best about all of this. We're not going to try and fit just anywhere, we're going to go where we know we're wanted and we're going to be proactive about it. I was very proud of that."
Former defensive end Alfred Williams, a recent inductee into the College Hall of Fame, called it "better than a good move - it's a great move. I think it signals a new time, a new era for (CU) and a big shot in the arm when we needed it. That's the most important thing for me - rebuilding the commitment of the Colorado family. And this is an awesome opportunity to do that."
Williams , who along with former coach Bill McCartney and Gov. Bill Ritter met Scott and his traveling party Friday morning at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, said the Big 12 "wasn't a fair conference for (CU). I understand the competition with Texas has been great, but it has not been fair and we have not been on equal playing ground for a long time.
"But I think now, going forward with every opportunity and the new shared revenue that's been talked about, we'll have a better chance. And that's important."
Williams claimed he has "a smile on my face because I know what's going to happen here. We'll be able to get a different kind of recruit, we'll have the availability (to recruit) in new parts of the country that probably didn't view Colorado in the same way. Now, for me, from a purely football side, it's so much fun."
The Buffs already look to California often in recruiting in most sports. Former quarterback Darian Hagan, a teammate of Williams and a native Californian (Los Angeles), also believes Pac-10 membership will benefit members of the CU coaching staff who have West Coast ties.
"I like it because it's an opportunity for a lot of the kids that we recruit to be able to say I can get home four or five times a year," said Hagan, CU's running backs coach.. "But it's also an opportunity for coaches who grew up in California to get back and see family more often.
"And you're going into major cities; you're not going into Ames, Iowa. You're going into major places where there's a lot of things to do and see. I think it fits our university - academically, traditionally. I think it's a win-win."
After months of rampant speculation of impending major change in the national college landscape, CU and the Pac-10 became the first school and conference to initiate a move. Scott said as soon as his conference's presidents gave the green light to expand - he called it "a deliberate and exhaustive process" - CU emerged as a "great fit" in any expansion scenario that was being formulated.
"It was something we wanted to do regardless of circumstances around the country (in other conferences), we'd better move on it," he said. "Things moved very quickly . . . we found a chancellor (Phil DiStefano) and athletic director (Mike Bohn) who shared a vision of the future; they wanted to be proactive and wanted to be leaders. That's why this happened so quickly."
In welcoming CU to the "conference of champions," Scott called Friday "a landmark day for the Pac-10" and thanked CU's administration for its collective "leadership and courage . . . in taking the first major step (in conference realignment). History will recognize and reward this bold first step."
Said Bohn: "To be first is nice, but that wasn't the reason . . . we did it because it was right."
CU football coach Dan Hawkins credited Bohn "because this stuff's not easy. I think it's awesome to be in a conference, No. 1. And I think there can be a lot of positives to it. I think aligning ourselves with some of those schools academically that are kind of in our category is a good thing.
"Everybody always fears change, and maybe that's the biggest fear out there. It'll definitely be a new challenge, but it's also a new opportunity."
New CU men's basketball coach Tad Boyle, hired in mid-April to replace Jeff Bzdelik, said he was flying back to Denver with his Northern Colorado basketball team last season when he first heard of the possibility of Pac-10 expansion and CU being a potential invitee.
"Wow," Boyle remembered thinking, "CU in the Pac-10 . . . that's a good fit."
It's a better fit now that Boyle is part of it. He said he doesn't see a downside, but added, "I'm anxious to see where the rest of the dominoes fall. But for us, it's still a great, great fit."
The "conference of champions" tag, said Scott, relates to three things: "world class research, a prestigious academic reputation, and, of course, the athletic success in the Pac-10 Conference. (CU) is a perfect fit in all of these areas - and that's long been the view of the Pac-10, dating back 15 years ago when I believe these discussions started. Some things just take time."
Seven of the conference's 10 original members are members of the prestigious American Association of Universities (AAU), with the inclusion of CU now boosting that total to eight of 11. Scott said five Pac-10 schools are in the US News and World Report's Top 50 universities in the U.S., and the conference's schools collective number of nobel laureates exceeds 100.
The Pac-10, said Scott, has over 150 more athletic championships (all sports) than its nearest competitor, the Big Ten. But his conference never has had the possibility of winning a national championship in skiing - until now.
Nor has it had a national champion mascot, he noted, adding, "So Chip, welcome."
CU's membership in the California-based conference offers immediate appeal to alums in that state. DiStefano noted that CU has 35,000 more alumni in California than it has "in the Big 12 footprint" and that 600 freshmen from California enroll in CU every year.
CU's total number of sports (16) currently trails its Pac-10 peers. But DiStefano said that could change. Adding sports "is something we've talked about with (Scott)," he said. "As we look to the future, we should be thinking about adding sports. Baseball is one that I'd like to see, although . . . the weather here in the spring isn't always conducive to playing baseball with 36 inches of snow."
(Ironically, Friday was 30 years to the day that CU eliminated baseball and a handful of other sports for budgetary reasons.)
With CU heading to the Pac-10 and Nebraska on Friday reportedly accepting membership in the Big Ten, the Buffs-Huskers football rivalry soon will require more than a shared conference membership to be played.
Without specifically mentioning Nebraska, Bohn said CU and various rivalries "are nothing we take for granted." He pointed to what has been an annual season-opener against Colorado State and said that game "is not in jeopardy." He also expressed optimism that "new rivalries will emerge quickly" in the Pac-10.
"That's not to say that rivalries with institutions we played before (read: Nebraska) won't reoccur from time to time . . . I know the Pac-10 is committed to great cross-sectional games across the country as well. We're committed to continue to play contests at the highest level. We've always been about that."
Before CU was brought aboard, the Pac-10 was rumored to be eyeing five Big 12 South Division schools and/or Utah. On-going movement in the Big 12 is being monitored, and Scott noted, "We're continuing our evaluation, looking at various scenarios and our presidents and chancellors could pursue them if they arise . . .
"A lot of that depends on what happens elsewhere in the country and decisions by individual schools . . . but if it stops here (with CU), it's a big step forward."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
