Colorado board unanimously approves move from Pac-12 to Big 12 - ESPN

The University of Colorado will leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 after the 2023-24 season, as the school formalized its future membership in the Big 12 on Thursday.

The school's Board of Regents voted unanimously to make the move, which loomed as the final step in a process that for the past 24 hours has largely been considered a formality. Colorado's departure will coincide with the end of the Pac-12 television deal, which expires after the 2023-24 season, meaning Colorado won't have to pay any exit fee. Colorado is expected to join the Big 12 at a pro rata basis, which is an average of $31.7 million in television revenue over the course of the league's new deal starting in 2025.

«The time has come for us to change conferences,» Colorado president Todd Saliman told the Board of Regents on Thursday afternoon. «We see this as a way to create more opportunity for the University of Colorado, for our students and our student-athletes and create a path forward for us in the future.»

Colorado's application for membership is the latest blow to the Pac-12, which loses both USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in 2024 and is amid a contracted process of landing a new television deal. Pac-12 leadership is expected to meet with presidents Thursday night to discuss that league's next steps, sources told ESPN. The Buffalos had emerged as the loudest skeptics of Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff's ability to land a reasonable television deal. School officials from Colorado met in person with Big 12 officials at a neutral site in early May, per ESPN sources.

The move marks a return for Colorado to the Big 12, where they were members from 1996 to 2010. Colorado left for the Pac-12 in 2011 and has had no bowl wins and just two winning football