CSU would ‘jump at the chance’ to replace Colorado in Pac-12
Colorado State would allegedly “jump at the chance” to replace Colorado football in the Pac-12 according to Kevin Lytle of The Coloradoan (subscription required) — who believes CU actually will play a big hand in CSU moving up to the Power Five ranks.
“Simply, the Rams needed help to move up. The Big 12 is no longer interested,” Lytle prefaced before saying, “Same with the Big 10 and the conferences farther east (the ACC and SEC). CSU flirted with the American not long ago, but that didn’t make much sense. But the Pac-12? It’s maybe not as natural a fit as the Big 12 could have been years ago, but CSU would jump at the chance. Like, swan dive, Olympics style, into the pool. While the Pac-12 is struggling to match the nearly $30 million annually the Big 12 would be getting, whatever the new Pac-12 deal will be surely more (probably about triple) than the roughly $7 million MW schools get.”
Even in the Mountain West, Colorado State has been a bottom feeder for the last five years. Air Force has been the lone Centennial State school that hasn’t lost en masse in recent seasons; moreover, the Falcons have been one of the Group of Five’s top programs in the country since 2019, minus the 2020 COVID-stricken half-baked campaign.
San Diego State ‘by far the best’ Pac-12 expansion candidate after Colorado football loss
Buffaloes Wire’s Jack Carlough believes San Diego State is “by far the best” Pac-12 expansion candidate following CU’s exodus to the Big 12; mainly due to the San Diego television market the conference would pick up after losing both Los Angeles schools to the Big Ten.
“San Diego State is by far the Pac-12’s best expansion candidate because of its media market, although the Aztecs didn’t have an easy time fleeing the Mountain West earlier this summer,” Carlough wrote.
The Athletic’s Chris Vannini even thinks SDSU is an upgrade over CU.
“The Pac-12 isn’t dead,” Vannini prefaced before saying, “Not yet. You could even argue that replacing Colorado with San Diego State would be an upgrade. The survival of the conference was always going to come down to the Arizona schools, not the Buffs. But can it hold?”
San Diego State’s recent success certainly doesn’t override the contributions to the sport from Colorado football, but it’s clear that the Aztecs are about to be the major beneficiary of the Buffaloes’ Big 12 jump.
And maybe Colorado State will be too.