KU coach Bill Self praises Colorado to Big 12 move and reveals his ambitious plans for the 2023 season: "We are going to get to 16"
The University of Colorado's move to Big 12 has sent ripples throughout the rapidly shifting FBS landscape. The latest to congratulate the Colorado to Big 12 move is Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self, who talked about the breaking news in a conference ahead of Kansas' Puerto Rico trip.
Self has been a major propagator for the expansion of the Big 12, and the addition of Colorado is just another step towards his vision of a 16 team conference.
During the Jayhawks' press conference, he dished out praise for the Colorado to Big 12 move, especially because of his future plans for the conference. He said during the conference:
“From a Big 12-selfish standpoint, I like it because Colorado brings others. I think that if we are going to get to 16 (teams in the Big 12), I think what has transpired certainly puts us in position to be the third most powerful league in the country"
The Big 12 will see 14 teams facing off in the 2023-24 season, but the 2024 season will bring about major change across conferences, as the Buffaloes will officially move back to the Big 12, while the Longhorns and Sooners will leave, making their way to the SEC.
Self, however, envisions that the Big 12 will be expanding even more, as the Colorado to Big 12 move opens up the floodgates for more teams from the Pac 12 or other conferences to join.
What is the future of the Pac-12 after Colorado to Big 12 move?
The future of the Big 12 looks bright with Colorado joining the conference. The conference is already up to 14 teams, and a further expansion next season could see them sitting at 16 teams for the foreseeable future.
But left in the dust in the midst of these moves, has been the future of the Pac-12. With 3 teams announcing their decisions to leave the conference over the course of the last year, the conference of champions now sits at only nine schools going into the 2024-25 College Football season.
Colorado had been a mid-level team for many years, and their loss doesn't affect the Pac-12 as much as the loss of the USC Trojans or the UCLA Bruins does. The future of Arizona, Utah, Washington and Oregon is also dicey as of now.
This makes the situation even worse for the Pac-12, especially with the Huskies and Ducks now being the most valuable assets to the conference. But all hope isn't lost for the Pac-12.
Pac-12 commissioner, George Kliavkoff, still has some bright plans for the future of the conference. Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 will be starting the hunt to expand and bring in more members to replace the loss of the Buffaloes. The obvious names on their list are San Diego State and SMU.
While the addition of these two teams was a secondary goal for the Pac-12, now, it might be essential for the survival of the conference.