Pac-12 source felt Colorado leaving was obvious: ‘Smoke was everywhere’

Colorado football leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big 12 was something that many close to the Pac-12 conference felt was imminent according to a source who spoke with ESPN’s Heather Dinnich — who was told that there was always CU-Big 12 smoke.

“There was smoke,” one Pac-12 source said. “Smoke was being shown everywhere on this deal. So I don’t think it’s surprising. It was pretty clear and obvious for several months that Colorado was considering this move.”

With the losses of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, the Pac-12 became the conference with its back against the wall. The Big 12 responded to the SEC stealing Texas and Oklahoma by adding UCF, Cincinnati, BYU, and Houston and the ACC is so locked into its TV deal that a school would have to pay a large sum to the conference to leave it. Sure, the ACC may be in trouble long-term, but the Pac-12 was in trouble when USC and UCLA left and instead of working quickly to overcome those losses, they deliberated and are continuously losing more and more schools.

The manner in which Colorado football left Pac-12 officials ‘stunned’

As Dinnich reported, Pac-12 officials were stunned by the way Colorado football and the rest of CU’s athletics bolted the conference for the Big 12.

“It wasn’t necessarily the decision to leave that stunned the Pac-12 — it was the timing of it,” Dinnich prefaced before saying, “Multiple sources told ESPN that on June 30, the Pac-12’s presidents and chancellors voted unanimously — including Colorado — to authorize Kliavkoff to set July 31 as the deadline for all of the league’s bidders on its new media rights deal. Those on the Zoom moved forward — and Kliavkoff walked onto the stage in Las Vegas believing the league would stay intact at least until all the bids were in.”

One source went as far as calling CU to the Big 12 a “betrayal.”

“Pissed off is the wrong word,” a Pac-12 source prefaced before saying, “[Pac-12 presidents and chancellors] were livid. Can’t overstate the betrayal.”

Perhaps Colorado’s brain trust was just as betrayed when the Pac-12 continued not to show urgency toward a TV contract or to replacing USC and UCLA. Just a thought.