Tramel: Colorado regents tell us much about why the Buffaloes are Big 12 bound
As we begin a week that is likely to produce a 14th member for the future Big 12 — Arizona? Connecticut? Arizona State? Utah? Oregon? — it’s quite instructive to look back at Thursday, when Colorado regents voted unanimously to join the conference it left 12 years ago.
Before the vote, CU regents, along with athletic director Rick George, chancellor Philip DiStefano and president Todd Saliman, spoke about the move. Their comments gave us some insight into the latest round of conference realignment.
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Pac-12 situation is dire
Judging by the comments, CU leadership didn’t want to leave the Pac-12.
“It’s not lost on me how big of a vote this is and how important of a vote it is,” said regent Glen Gallegos. “I never thought we’d get to a day when we’d be voting to go out of a conference, but things have changed, really a lot, in the realm of college athletics.
“I think where we find ourselves today (Big 12-bound) is about the only place that we could find ourselves.”
Regent Frank McNulty downright lamented leaving the Pac-12.
“This decision wasn’t a slam dunk for me,” McNulty said. “As we’ve considered all the different aspects of the question in front of us, I like the idea of the Pac-12 very much.
“Unfortunately, it seems that that idea is no longer going to be realized. The Big 12 has opportunities for us.”
Colorado jumped to the Pac-12 in part because of Big 12 instability, but also because CU’s alumni base was decidedly more Californian than Texan. As many as 50,000 Buff alumni live in the Golden State.
But the majority of those graduates reside in southern California, and the soon departures of UCLA and Southern Cal cuts off that connection to a large degree, even if San Diego State eventually joins the Pac.
And the Pac-12's notorious wait for a media-rights contract has spooked Colorado (and likely every other Pac-12 member).
Commissioner George Kliavkoff keeps saying an acceptable contract will be presented soon, but if an acceptable contract was available, it would have been trotted out long before August.
“Having been part of our previous conference realignment, I know firsthand that these decisions have far-reaching implications, not just for our campus community, but also for our alumni and fans throughout the country and the world,” DiStefano said.
“With that in mind, we determined that joining the Big 12 would provide the stability that will best position CU-Boulder for long-term success, both athletically and academically.”
The meaning was clear. The Big 12’s soon-coming television contract squeezed the market, cutting off the Pac-12's ability to garner something similar.
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Colorado's move to Big 12 was not a quick decision
Sometimes we think these things brewed up soon after we hear about them. But no.
OU and Texas to the Southeastern Conference, and UCLA and USC to the Big Ten, were bolts from the blue. But they were months and months in the making.
Same with Colorado. Since the Big 12’s announced television deal last autumn, Pac-12 unrest has been a thing.
Colorado has known its Big 12 options for months.
“A lot of hard work and a lot of thought has gone into this decision,” said Saliman, CU’s president.
Regent Ken Montera thanked George, DiStefano and Saliman “for the great work they did. It’s been a long year, with a lot of different thinking around it. But I really appreciate how you went at it objectively and gave us a very clear picture on which way we should probably go.”
A long year. That harkens back to at least the winter. So this was a six-month process, minimum.
Colorado kept waiting for something to break on the Pac-12 media contract. Nothing ever broke.
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TV platform is important for Pac-12
The proposed Pac-12 TV contracts have not been revealed, but it appears that money is not the only (or perhaps even the primary) issue. Colorado officials repeatedly focused on exposure.
Some reports on the Pac-12 negotiations have said the contract offers have been heavily weighted towards streaming, instead of linear broadcasts.
"We feel strongly moving forward that the stability in the Big 12 will give us the platform that we need to have success in the future,” George said.
Coaches long have worried about not being on ESPN and/or Fox, the two primary networks for college football, in both quantity and promotion.
The National Football League jumped into streaming last season, and the ratings for Thursday night games on Amazon Prime were not strong, comparatively. The Pac-12 already suffered from being on the West Coast, with night games often falling off the radar of many East Coast observers.
Add streaming to that, and Pac-12 football faces some branding challenges.
“Rick and I are of the strong belief that a move ... will set CU-Boulder up for long-term success and will provide stability in an era of unprecedented change,” DiStefano said. “It will also provide added exposure for not just our student athletes, but for the good work and the great work and accomplishments of the university as a whole.”
The Pac-12 is in major markets. Phoenix. San Francisco. Seattle. Denver. Salt Lake City. But the Big 12 provided more exposure.
Yormark’s ability to sign on with ESPN and Fox pays off again.
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A geographic change was alluring to Colorado
Without Los Angeles schools in the Pac-12, Colorado officials seemed OK with turning their sights back to Texas and even farther eastward.
And new Buffalo coach Deion Sanders has been particularly outspoken about the potential recruiting advantages of a change.
“I will tell you, there’s tremendous benefits for being in the Big 12 for the direction that Coach Prime is going as it relates to recruiting, being able to play in Orlando, against UCF (Central Florida), where he’s recruited very heavily,” George said. “The state of Texas has always been a priority for us, and now (we're) playing four teams in that area. And then just up north, Oklahoma State.”
Administrators always can find geographic angles, and CU’s did, saying the move would take the university brand to new markets. It’s not so different from UCF administrators talking about taking their brand West.
“We are a place where people can come from anywhere and succeed,” said regent Mark Vandriel. “I hope that with the broader geographical reach, we are going to be able to show that CU-Boulder is a place that people from all over this country are welcome, and second of all, where they will come and succeed.”
And travel was not a huge impediment. Sometimes, we forget how massive is the American West.
Boulder, Colorado, sits 1,306 miles from Seattle. Boulder is 1,482 miles from Morgantown, West Virginia.
“We’ve looked at the cost that we will be incurring from team travel in the Big 12 as well as the initial rebranding, and when we consider the Big 12 revenue, we believe it’s a great win for the University of Colorado,” George said. “The revenue was not just from a media deal. There’s a lot of talk about that, but from other revenue streams, and we believe that’s positive being in the Big 12.”
Again, I believe CU would rather be in the Pac-12, if all things were ideal. But they are not. USC and UCLA are leaving. The television platform is diminished. The Buffs are making the best of it.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Colorado regents offer clues on why the Buffaloes jumped to the Big 12
