Colorado rejoins Big 12, could 'Coach Prime' come to Nippert Stadium to face UC?

The Big 12 announced its newest member Thursday, July 27 with a two-word press release.

"They're back."

That signified the return of the University of Colorado to the Big 12, a league they left in 2010 for the Pac-12. The Buffaloes were original members of the Big 8, which became the Big 12 in 1996.

The school has been in the news most of the year thanks to the hiring of Deion Sanders as head coach. "Coach Prime" inherited a 1-11 team and immediately made no secret he would hit the transfer portal hard. At last check, the Buffaloes had 49 transfers and 73 players transferring out (since last August). Sanders came from a successful run at Jackson State, brought his quarterback son Shedeur Sanders as starter and began re-assembling a roster almost immediately.

Their April spring game brought 47,277 fans, a crowd bigger than all but two of their 2022 home games.

Sanders was in the job market as the University of Cincinnati was also searching for a coach when Luke Fickell moved on to Wisconsin. UC AD John Cunningham went with Scott Satterfield, while "Prime Time" went to Boulder Dec. 3 for his first NCAA Division I assignment. Satterfield's hiring came two days after Sanders.

“We are excited to welcome the University of Colorado to the Big 12 Conference and look forward to competing against the Buffaloes," Cunningham said Thursday. "We appreciate Commissioner Brett Yormark’s vision for the future of the league. We are honored to be a member of a conference that continues to be on the forefront of innovation, academic achievement and competitive excellence.”

Depending on the schedule, Sanders could return to Cincinnati on the Colorado sidelines. He has some familiarity with the city being a Cincinnati Red in 1994-95, 1997 and again in 2001. In between his NFL career, he hit .277 for the Reds in '94 with 19 steals in 46 games; .240 in '95 with 16 steals in 33 games; .273 in '97 with 56 steals in 115 games and five home runs, then .173 in a 32-game cameo in 2001.

The 55-year-old Sanders is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his 14-year NFL career and is also in the College Football Hall of Fame and Florida State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Colorado to the Big 12 in 2024 puts the league at 13 members and commissioner Brett Yormark has made it known the league would like to have fourteen. Texas and Oklahoma leave after this season for the SEC.

Arizona, Arizona State and Utah could be possibilities given the current state of the Pac-12, and there's been plenty of talk about Connecticut, with Yormark being from the Northeast. The Huskies would bring a defending national championship basketball team to an already-loaded Big 12 hoops menu. The Huskies football program played as an independent under Jim Mora Jr. last season and made a bowl game, finishing 6-7.

Unlike newcomers UC, UCF, Houston and BYU, Colorado re-enters the Big 12 receiving a full share in their current TV deal which is worth about $32 million annually.

UC has played one game at Colorado, losing 56-14 on Sept. 16, 1972. In men's basketball, they lead the Buffaloes 7-1 with the lone loss coming in their last game in 1982. Colorado was 18-17 (8-12) on the hardwood last season with former UC coach Mick Cronin's UCLA Bruins defeating them three times.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Deion Sanders could return to Cincinnati as Colorado joins Big 12