In a shocking move last week, the Colorado Buffaloes will be leaving the Pac-12 and re-joining the Big 12 for the 2024-25 season. Say what you will about cultural fit and academic prestige, but this is big win for the non-Olympic sports, particularly the football program as Deion Sanders can lean into their Big 12 history and Texas connections to build up a team capable of contending in their new conference home.
Basketball does not have that history, unfortunately. Not a good history, anyway. The Buffs were a bottom dweller in the old Big 12 as luminaries Joe Harrington, Ricardo Patton and Jeff Bzdelik all struggled to find sustained success on the hardwood.