Colorado University Athletics
It's Official: Buffs Complete Switch To Big 12
August 02, 2024 | General, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — The Buffaloes are back.
More specifically, back in the Big 12.
As of Friday, the University of Colorado is officially back "home" again in the Big 12 after a 13-year visit to the Pac-12. The move marks a return for the Buffs to a conference they helped found in 1994 and one that began play roughly two years later in 1996.
But CU has called a version of the Big 12 home for much longer than that.
In 1947, Colorado left the Mountain States Conference to join what then became the Big Seven: CU, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Iowa State and Missouri. A decade later, Oklahoma State joined the fold to form the Big Eight, a conference that would become one of the nation's leading leagues for the next four decades. (The Big Eight is still the only conference in college football history to finish with the top three teams in the final Associated Press football poll, when Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado finished 1-2-3 in the final 1971 rankings).
When the Big 12 was officially formed in 1994 — it began play in the fall of 1996 — all eight teams from the Big Eight joined with four schools from the disbanded Southwest Conference. Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M joined to form the conference, and membership stayed that way until 2011, when Colorado left for the Pac-12 and Nebraska headed to the Big Ten.
Two years later, Texas A&M and Missouri left for the SEC and the Big 12 added West Virginia and TCU as replacements.
Then came maybe the biggest shuffle of them all, moves that sparked a nationwide realignment race.
In 2021, Texas and Oklahoma announced they would be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, a move that became official earlier this summer. The Big 12 then quickly added BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston, who joined the league in time for the 2023-24 season.
Then, in the summer of 2023, Colorado announced it would jump to the Big 12, a decision that prompted fellow Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to follow suit and join the crowd.
In a joint statement, CU Athletic Director Rick George and then-chancellor Phil DiStefano said the move "would give CU Boulder the stability, resources, and exposure necessary for long-term future success in a college athletics environment that is constantly evolving … The Big 12's national reach across three time zones as well as our shared creative vision for the future we feel make it an excellent fit for CU Boulder, our students, faculty, and alumni."
Thus, Colorado will be part of a 16-team Big 12 beginning this fall that has plenty of familiar faces — but also a host of new schools who will become new brethren for the Buffs.
A quick primer breaking it all down as the Buffs prepare for their 2024 return to the Big 12:
Who's gone: Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M — Big 12 members when CU last played in the league — are now in other conferences.
Who's still there: Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor were all in the league when CU left.
Who's new: Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Houston, TCU, Central Florida and West Virginia will become conference foes for the Buffaloes. (It will be the second time around for the Buffs and BYU, who were conference affiliates from 1938-46 in the old Mountain States Conference).
Familiar faces: Making the move with Colorado from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 will be Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
Competitive league: At least five teams in the conference have made their way into early top 25 football rankings for 2024, including those of The Athletic and Fox analyst (and former Buff) Joel Klatt. Those teams are:
Utah (No. 6 Klatt, No. 25 The Athletic)
Arizona (No. 21, No. 19)
Kansas (No. 23 in both)
Kansas State (No. 20, No. 16)
Oklahoma State (No. 19, No. 24)
All five teams are on Colorado's schedule this fall, along with Nebraska, which earned the No. 22 spot with Klatt.