Bakersdozen said:
BaylorGuy314 said:
Bakersdozen said:
They left Big 12 for a reason. That reason remains.
Um, what kind of revisionist history is this?
The original Big 12 dissolved because of instability and inequality. Nebraska was the first to jump ship, seeing an opportunity to make more money and be apart from Texas at a time when there were flirtations between several members of the B12 and the PAC. Colorado jumped the gun shortly thereafter to secure their spot fearful that UT/OU/OSU/TT would get into the PAC and they'd be potentially left in a decimated Big 12.
Colorado to the PAC was nothing more than a reaction.
Hardly. PAC and West Coast is a much better fit. Still is or they would have already jumped. They may jump out of a plane before it crashes (the conference) but they won't until PAC options are no longer desirable because that is their #1 choice.
I believe it is the desire of all the PAC schools to stick together in an ideal world. That ideal scenario is just highly unlikely to materialize. I also believe, in hindsight, all of them wish they would've been more aggressive on the expansion front when they had opportunities (and they've had numerous opportunities). Further, I strongly believe that many wore the PAC12 badge as an honor academically and ego got in the way. A lot of "They're not good enough to sit with us" mentality which will come back to haunt many of them.
While CU may be, culturally, much more of a west coast school, they were in the Big 8/12 for 70 years and they still have a ton of alumni in those areas. They have missed the pipeline for recruiting in Texas and the South. So while I don't believe they necessarily want to move and upset the apple cart, there are lots of legitimate reasons to seriously consider it. Given their familiarity with the Big8/12, it's probably less scary for them than some of the other PAC programs.
That said, I'll reiterate that CU to the PAC was not some predestined thing. The PAC became the aggressor in 2011 with big ideas and Larry Scott at the helm and Colorado didn't want to get left out when there was talk of bringing 4-6 Big 12 schools into the fold. They grabbed their lifeboat as soon as Nebraska jumped and it looked like the Big 12 might sink. Colorado certainly would not have left if Nebraska had stayed put and the conference held together.