Colorado announced it was leaving the Big 12 back in 2010, amid ongoing rumors that the conference was about to fall apart. Its first football season as a Pac-12 member was in 2011.
Colorado was one of several Big 12 members that left the conference in the early 2010s amid a turbulent period of conference realignment and destabilization. It was heavily rumored at the time that Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M – the center of the conference’s power structure – were going to leave the Big 12.
Texas and Oklahoma remained in the Big 12, but Texas A&M did leave for the SEC. Nebraska and Missouri also left for the Big Ten and SEC, respectively.
The Big 12 responded by adding TCU and West Virginia – two of the most successful programs in college football in the late aughts – ahead of the 2012 season. The additions stabilized the Big 12 for the next decade.
The Big 12 was originally formed in 1996 by combining the Big Eight with four key Texas schools – hence, the Big 12. Colorado was a member of the Big Eight and an original member of the Big 12.
Colorado football has had only one winning season since joining the Pac-12 and went 1-11 in 2022.
On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Big 12 presidents and chancellors voted unanimously to accept Colorado back into the conference. With UCLA and USC already leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, the move would further destabilize west-coast collegiate athletics.
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