This is an extended excerpt deep dive into Colorado's schizophrenia by the only pencil in America who could do it, the incomparable Jon Wilner. Wilner knows the PAC in granular detail. Key in on CU's culture.
2. Colorado’s situation is as complex as the map is simple.
The campus is not located on the West Coast or fixed in the Pacific Time Zone (even for half the year). In fact, it’s 200 miles closer to Dallas than Los Angeles. The school was in the Big Eight/Big 12 for 62 years and has been a member of the Pac-12 for just 12.
Yet in vibe, culture and politics, Boulder is more California than Texas, more West Coast than Southern Plains.
Absolutely true. Anyone who has spent much time in ski country knows.
3. Colorado’s identity is at stake in realignment, but which identity?
The decision to remain in the Pac-12 or return to the Big 12 illuminates the university’s quest to define itself athletically and academically. What’s best for one might not be best for the other.
Athletically, a connection to Texas, to a greater extent than even California, is necessary for CU’s football recruiting. And there are more blue-chip prospects in the former than the latter: 63 per year in Texas compared to 33 annually in California. (Details below).
The power structure within Boulder reflects the potential for a Big 12 lean, as well.
Coach Deion Sanders, who has transformed the Buffaloes’ national profile since his appointment last winter, views the Lone Star State as imperative. Meanwhile, the chancellor, DiStefano, and athletic director, George, are nearing retirement. Their legacies are at stake.
Will they be swayed by Sanders? What are their priorities? Where are their loyalties? How deep are the scars from the Pac-12’s many missteps under former commissioner Larry Scott?
But when it comes to issues that impact the university in totality, including both the source and mouth of Colorado’s enrollment pipeline, the school seems more suited for the West Coast.
— The source: Colorado welcomed 36,000 students in the fall of 2022, according to the university’s office of data analytics, and slightly more than half (56 percent) were in-state residents.
The out-of-state student population tilts heavily to California. The Golden State is CU’s golden ticket — hello, full-cost tuition! — and accounts for 10 percent of the school’s total enrollment.
There are three times as many students from California as those from Texas.
— The mouth: Colorado has approximately 300,000 living alumni, according to the university. About 50 percent reside in Colorado, while the out-of-state alumni base tilts substantially to Northern and Southern California specifically and the West Coast generally.
There are more alumni in San Francisco than Colorado Springs, more in Seattle than Dallas.
Donations to the athletic department from California increased 903 percent during CU’s first four seasons in the Pac-12, the Boulder Daily Camera reported in 2015.
“Where we play is taking us to where our people are,” George said at the time.
(Note: The alumni data cited above is from 2016.)
— Were conference affiliation tied solely to academic prestige, the Buffaloes wouldn’t consider switching conferences.
Average U.S. News and World Report ranking of Pac-12 schools in 2022-23 (excluding Colorado): 97th
Average ranking of Big 12 schools: 148th
Number of Pac-12 schools in the Association of American Universities (excluding Colorado): seven.
Number of Big 12 schools in the Association of American Universities: one.
And yet, here we are.
A dozen years after Colorado shifted its center of gravity from Texas to California, speculation is rampant that the Buffaloes will reverse course.
In that time, they have zero Pac-12 football titles, just two bowl appearances and a winning percentage of 26.2 in conference games.
Are their struggles on the field related to conference affiliation, questionable coaching hires or resources available? Would the Buffaloes have performed any better in the Big 12 over the past decade? Their final chapter in that league, in the mid-to-late 2000s, was littered with defeat, as well.
Athletically, the school feels forever adrift … not textbook Big 12 but not classic Pac-12 … reliant upon the Southern Plains and the West Coast for roster building … tied to its athletic past in a Texas-based league and to its institutional present in a California-centric conference …
Spot on. CU is betwixt and between.
Contiguous to two Power Five leagues but ideally built, it seems, for none.
👏Amazing article.
