Connelly’s Colorado takeaways: Big 12’s big dreams and the Pac-12’s murky future

Give Colorado credit for one thing: While its football prowess has diminished dramatically in the 2000s, it remains one of college sports’ key realignment weather vanes. Wherever the winds are blowing, that’s where you’ll find the Buffaloes.

Thirteen years ago, Colorado got an invitation to leave behind the dramatic uncertainty of the Big 12 for what felt like an exciting, up-and-coming Pac-12, a conference with huge plans and a big-dreaming commissioner in Larry Scott.

Last week, the school did the same thing in reverse, running from a Pac-12 that had lost two members and hadn’t yet been able to secure an elusive, new media rights deal. Back to the Big 12 the Buffs will go in 2024, wooed by an ambitious and bold commissioner in Brett Yormark.

Scott’s big dreams obviously didn’t come to fruition out West. While it seemed likely he would land Texas, Oklahoma and half the Big 12 for a few days in spring 2010, the move fell apart due to some combination of conservative Pac-12 presidents and Texas’ cold feet. And thanks to pure geography, there were no more home run swings to attempt after that. Scott made a number of ill-advised decisions in setting up (and failing to get proper distribution for) the Pac-12 Network, and the conference went from aspiring powerhouse to stuck in the mud.

Two years ago, it seemed the Pac-12 had another shot at a Big 12 knockout blow. The Big 12 found out it was losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, and the Pac-12 seemed to have an opportunity to land some of the Big 12’s remaining Texas schools. But new commish George Kliavkoff couldn’t get those stodgy presidents aligned, and the moment passed. The Big 12 added four sturdy football brands, hired a new commish and here we are.

Kliavkoff has yet to really score a win of any kind, and after months of teasing out a media rights deal that has never come to fruition, the Pac-12 is for the moment a Pac-9, with Yormark aiming to steal at least one more program. This is the most vulnerable a power conference had been since, well, the last time Colorado changed conferences. Let’s take stock as we wait for the next shoe to drop.