Tag: Big 12 Conference

How does the Big 12 stack up in CBSSports’ 1-133 rankings for the 2023 season?

Where did the Big 12 land in CBSSports’ preseason 1-133 team rankings for the 2023 season?

The Big 12 is heading into its first and final season as it is currently constructed.

There are a ton of question marks surrounding the league. Can the TCU Horned Frogs or Kansas State Wildcats maintain the momentum they had a season ago? Can the Texas Longhorns finally have a dominant season? Can the Oklahoma Sooners bounce back?

There are also questions surrounding the new teams and how well they will acclimate to a new and better league. CBSSports ranked all 133 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. How well does the Big 12 stack up nationally? How much faith does CBSSports have in those teams with question marks surrounding them? Let’s take a look at where each Big 12 team ranks in the nation.

Ranking the Big 12’s football stadiums from worst to first

Which Big 12 stadiums are you most looking forward to watching the Buffs invade?

The Colorado Buffaloes are going home to the Big 12, a conference they once existed in for over 60 years. From the Big 7 to the current iteration of the Big 12, the league has been in a constant state of change.

Texas and Oklahoma are soon moving to the SEC and a new crop of schools from across the country recently joined (UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati). Add that West Virginia and TCU joined in 2012 after CU left, and the Big 12 looks quite different from the Buffs’ final year in 2011. This presents Colorado fans with a new crop of road trip possibilities.

With those new universities and cities lays a treasure trove of new football stadiums to explore. I have no doubt that with the new direction of the program under head coach Deion Sanders, fans will be champing at the bit to follow the Buffaloes into hostile territory.

Here’s a ranking of the Big 12 football stadiums that I’m most looking forward to watching the Buffs invade:

Does Colorado leaving open up Colorado State’s path to the Pac-12?

Colorado leaving may have opened up an opportunity for CSU to join the Pac-12

With Colorado being the latest domino to fall, conference realignment is all the buzz this summer. The Big 12 and Big Ten are looking strong moving forward while the Pac-12’s troubles only worsened following the Buffs’ exit.

The Pac-12 currently has nine schools committed to the 2024-25 academic year, but that number could easily drop again. If commissioner George Kliavkoff wants to keep the conference alive, he’ll have to make a few major expansion splashes. His options, however, appear limited to the Group of Five and to the Mountain West, in particular.

San Diego State is by far the Pac-12’s best expansion candidate because of its media market, although the Aztecs didn’t have an easy time fleeing the Mountain West earlier this summer.

One Mountain West school that may be desperate enough to join the Pac-12 is Colorado State. The Rams have been a Power Five expansion candidate before, and now is clearly their best chance at moving up.

Kevin Lytle of The Coloradoan (subscription required) believes that CU rejoining the Big 12 helps CSU’s path to the Pac-12.

Simply, the Rams needed help to move up. The Big 12 is no longer interested. Same with the Big 10 and the conferences farther east (the ACC and SEC). CSU flirted with the American not long ago, but that didn’t make much sense.

But the Pac-12? It’s maybe not as natural a fit as the Big 12 could have been years ago, but CSU would jump at the chance. Like, swan dive, Olympics style, into the pool.

Lytle added that the future Pac-12 figures to be a “thinned-out” Power Five, but the expected money would make it an attractive choice for CSU.

While the Pac-12 is struggling to match the nearly $30 million annually the Big 12 would be getting, whatever the new Pac-12 deal will be surely more (probably about triple) than the roughly $7 million MW schools get.

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Ranking potential candidates for further Big 12 expansion

Which school would you like to see follow Colorado into the Big 12?

After adding Colorado, the Big 12 is not done expanding.

Per ESPN’s Heather Dinich, the conference would like to snag one more school ahead of the 2024 season to give the league an even 14 members.

So, who are the top candidates? Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported the Big 12 is first seeking out a handful of Pac-12 schools. If that doesn’t yield an agreement, the Big 12 has a number of Group of Five schools in mind.

Conference realignment is a hot topic ahead of the 2023 college football season. With Colorado being the latest domino to fall, further moves are expected in the near future.

Using McMurphy’s reported list of schools the Big 12 is considering, below are my top candidates for expansion:

PHOTOS: Colorado’s last win as a Big 12 member

Relive Colorado’s last win as a member of the Big 12

Under interim head coach Brian Cabral, who remains on Colorado’s current football staff as a character coach, the Buffaloes bested Kansas State in their last home football game as members of the Big 12.

The date was Nov. 20, 2010. Colorado, set to join the Pac-12 Conference in a matter of months, entered the contest 4-6 and still within reach of a bowl game while the Wildcats had already secured their sixth win.

The Buffs fell behind 14-3 early before rattling off 27 unanswered points, six of which came from a 23-yard touchdown pass from running back Rodney Stewart to Toney Clemons. Stewart would finish the 44-36 win with 201 yards rushing and a pair of TDs via the ground as well.

With Colorado set to rejoin the Big 12 next summer, take a photographic look back at the Buffs’ 2010 home finale:

Tad Boyle speaks on returning to Big 12 basketball

Tad Boyle on Colorado moving to the Big 12: “The basketball job at Colorado got harder, but it got better”

Like the University of Colorado itself, Tad Boyle has his own roots in the Big 12, which is set to welcome the Buffs back next summer.

Colorado’s longtime men’s basketball head coach spent his college years playing in the Big 8 at Kansas and his first season leading the Buffs coincided with the school’s final year as a Big 12 member — until now.

Boyle gave BuffZone’s Pat Rooney some of his thoughts on moving back to the Big 12:

“I remember thinking 12 years ago that we’re leaving a really good league and we’re going into a really good league. I would probably say the same thing now,” Boyle told BuffZone. “It’s a great basketball league, the Big 12 is. So it’s exciting. The basketball job at Colorado got harder, but it got better.

“There’s a lot of things I miss about the Big 12, and that’s where our roots are. But I’m going to miss the Pac-12. I certainly enjoyed playing in that league and competing in that league. And I’m looking forward to doing it for one more year for sure. It’s a unique situation with us now and UCLA and USC being our last year.”

Additionally, Boyle speculated on how things will change for his program in regard to recruiting. He said that while Colorado prospects remain the Buffs’ top priority, the “secondary priority” will likely shift back from California to Texas.

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Former Buffs react to Colorado heading back to the Big 12

These former #cubuffs are all on board with Colorado moving back to the Big 12

Just about everyone with ties to Colorado appears excited about the Buffs moving back to the Big 12 next summer. The past decade-plus in the Pac-12 has been difficult for a number of reasons, but the future is finally looking bright — and more importantly stable — once again.

Colorado still has another academic year in the Pac-12, though, and it should be an entertaining one with Deion Sanders now leading the Buffs’ new-look football program.

Upon hearing the news, a handful of former Buffs who either played or coached in the Big 12 shared their thoughts on CU moving back to its old stomping grounds. Take a look at what they had to say:

Deion Sanders shares approval of Colorado’s move to the Big 12

Deion Sanders applauded Rick George for helping guide Colorado to the Big 12

Born in Florida and a longtime resident of Texas, Deion Sanders stands to benefit plenty from Colorado’s upcoming move to the Big 12 Conference. Coach Prime has already recruited those two states heavily during his early days with the Buffs and he now owns another added advantage following Thursday’s seismic switch.

Few shared any dissent toward Colorado leaving the Pac-12. The departure, which requires no exit fee, was necessary and comes as athletic director Rick George’s latest success.

Sanders shared his own approval of the move in an interview with 247Sports.

“If everything I’m hearing is true, I applaud our (AD) Rick George for choosing the best scenario for all athletics at CU,” Sanders told 247Sports. “This move is a game changer and we plan on changing the game.”

Colorado’s athletic programs will soon embark on its final Pac-12 seasons before joining the Big 12 next summer.

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Oregon needs the Big Ten, but the Big Ten might need Oregon just as badly

A perfect outcome for Oregon is a seat at the table next to USC and UCLA. The Big Ten may need to jump on that while they have the leverage.

In the history of the United States, there have been war-time presidents and peace-time presidents; leaders who are aggressive and ready to take action to protect the future of the nation, and leaders who are good at negotiating and offering comfort to all of their constituents.

Rob Mullens, John Karl Scholz — which side do you more align yourselves with?

For the University of Oregon, it appears that things are moving from a nice decade of peace into a period of war that will leave many teams behind and feinding for themselves while others jump ship for cushy spots in new conferences.

By all means it appears that the Pac-12 is a sinking ship right now, and the remaining nine teams in the conference have to be looking for a landing spot should they choose to jump.

For the Ducks, a perfect dismount would see Oregon as the newest member of the Big Ten, following a path blazed by the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins.

We know that the Ducks would desperately love to join that conference, but many think that the Big Ten might not want Oregon. Former commissioner Kevin Warren was interested in further expanding west, but new commissioner Tony Petitti has pumped the brakes.

I think that they not only should want the Ducks, but they may need them just as badly as Oregon needs the Big Ten. Let me explain.

Nebraska’s QB has heard from fans about one game in particular

Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims is looking forward to the start of the 2023 season.

Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims is looking forward to the start of the 2023 season. The former Georgia Tech transfer spoke to the media at Thursdays Big Ten media day appearance.

Sims told the media that there has been one game in particular that Husker fans are excited about.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about Colorado. But we haven’t really focused on that game yet because, you know, we’ve still got to play Minnesota.”

Colorado and Nebraska were both founding members of the Big 12 when the league was created in 1996. Both left following the 2010 season when Nebraska bolted east for the Big Ten and Colorado moved west for the Pac 12.

Colorado has recently announced that they would be returning Big 12 starting in 2024.

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