The Big 12 was left for dead two years ago. Now, the conference has its swagger back.

A leader in the Oklahoma State athletic department walked into a co-worker’s office Thursday morning.

“Feel a lot better than I did in July 2021,” the leader said.

No kidding, right?

Only two years ago, OSU and other Big 12 schools were reeling after the news Oklahoma and Texas were leaving for the SEC. Would the pilfered conference survive? If it did, might it be relegated to something less than Power Five status? If it didn’t, would the remaining schools be able to find homes in other Power Five leagues or be banished to something else?

Now, such concerns seem long ago and far away.

Thursday, the Big 12 became the plunderer.

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It lured Colorado away from the Pac-12, a move rumored since May when The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel reported that a Big 12 source said Colorado was ready to commit to joining the Big 12 “soon.” Two months later, the move has been finalized.

After the Big 12’s presidents and chancellors voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept Colorado as a new (and returning) member, Colorado formalized the move with a unanimous vote of the school’s board of regents late Thursday afternoon.

The Buffs will return to the Big 12 next year.

The same year the Sooners and Longhorns depart.

It’s a huge sign of strength for the Big 12, a league many left for dead 24 months ago. No, the Big 12 hasn’t overtaken the SEC or the Big Ten ― they’re still the big dogs in college athletics ― but this power play moves the Big 12 past the ACC, if that hadn’t happened already.

Now, it’s clear Colorado’s departure isn't all about the Big 12. It's due in large part to the Pac-12. After that league learned last summer that USC and UCLA would be leaving for the Big Ten, the Pac-12 began seeking a new media-rights deal. Several times over the past year, the league, its leaders and even its presidents have indicated one was imminent.

None has materialized.

Just last week at Pac-12 football media day, conference commissioner George Kliavkoff said the league wasn’t announcing a deal because it didn’t want to detract from the coaches and players who were there. The assumption was, of course, a deal had been done.

Then Kliavkoff backtracked.

No deal has been announced, presumably because none exists.

All that has put Pac-12 schools on edge, but for months, none reached for a parachute and jumped.

That changed Thursday.

Even though Colorado has been meh to yuck athletically over the past decade or so, it’s become one of the most talked about schools in the country since hiring Deion Sanders. Coach Prime taking over the football program may be a smash or a crash, but for now, he and the Buffs are all anyone can talk about.

Even OU coach Brent Venables took a shot at Deion and his portal-loving ways during Big 12 Media Days.

Now, as one astute Twitter user said, “Deion Sanders got the entire university in the transfer portal.”

And Colorado made the leap because it knew it had a lucrative landing spot in the Big 12.

In the Big 12’s new media-rights deal, which was secured by commissioner Brett Yormark and his team in October, ESPN’s part of the contract had a clause guaranteeing the same payout for any Power Five school the Big 12 might add. That means the Big 12 schools don’t have to divide the revenue pie into smaller pieces with the addition of Colorado. Instead, the pie gets bigger.

Every Big 12 school, including Colorado, will receive $20 million annually from ESPN.

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Now, there’s nothing in the deal that contractually obligates Fox to do the same ― it pays each school $11.7 million annually ― but according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Fox has agreed to do the pro-rata deal, too.

That’s a $31.7 million guarantee that the Pac-12 hasn’t provided its schools.

And Colorado leaving may prompt other Pac-12 schools to do the same.

Not to say all of them might end up in the Big 12. Oregon and Washington are interested in moving to the Big Ten, but the Big 12 has clearly been an aggressor in conference expansion ever since Yormark said it was “open for business” a year ago at football media days. This year at media days, he talked of the league having “a plan for expansion.

“I’m not going to really address it today,” he said. “We do have a plan, and hopefully we can execute that plan sooner than later.”

Is two weeks sooner enough?

Apparently, Yormark told On3 during media days that he’d be “a little disappointed” if the Big 12 didn’t add two more teams by 2025. He’s halfway there already, and now, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if more Pac-12 refugees join the Big 12.

And here’s the thing: moving to the Big 12 wouldn’t be settling. It would be a step up.

Two years ago, we thought the Big 12 might be dead conference walking. Today, the league is not just standing on its own two feet. It is strutting.

After Colorado's board of regents vote, the Big 12 sent out a statement from Yormark ala Michael Jordan's announcement that he was returning to the NBA.

"They're back."

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The Big 12 has its swagger back.

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her on Twitter @jennicarlson_ok or on Threads at jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 strengthens conference by poaching Colorado from Pac-12