Colorado Buffaloes to leave Big 12 in 2011
The Colorado Buffaloes have announced that they will leave the Big 12 in 2011, but will be forced to forfeit $6 million in revenues for Big 12 conference payouts.
The Buffaloes originally informed the Big 12 that they would be leaving for the PAC-10 in 2012. However, this week it became apparent that Colorado planned to join the PAC-10 in 2011.
The movement of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Utah Utes to other conferences influenced the Buffaloes' decision to leave in 2011. Nebraska will be moving from the Big 12 to the Big 10 next season, while Utah is departing the MWC and joining the PAC-10. With
Nebraska and Utah moving the Big 12 and PAC-10, both became 11 team conferences. In order to even those numbers it was imperative that Colorado jump ship early and join the PAC-10 in time for next season.
Nevertheless, earlier in the summer the Big 12 sides decided that teams must inform them two years in advance of their intended departure from the conference. Colorado informed the board in June of this year and therefore was subject to the two-year delay.
The original penalty for early departure was said to be 80% of a team's revenue having to be paid over a two-year period. However, the Buffaloes were able to come to an agreement with Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, that sees them pay $6 million to the conference.
Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano said of the transfer to the PAC-10: “Even as we leave for an exciting future in the PAC-10 Conference, we value the great friendships and memorable rivalries we have been a part of and we appreciate the good faith commissioner
Dan Beebe has shown in working with us on our exit from the conference.”
The change comes on the heels of wide-scale changes in the college football conferences, which should provide a different landscape for the 2011 season.
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