The Pac-12 is scrambling amid Colorado’s move back to the Big 12, but at least one person isn’t bothered by the fact the Buffaloes are no longer a member of the conference.
That would be Oregon’s second-year coach Dan Lanning, who on Monday said he had “not a big reaction” to the news Deion Sanders and Co. were jumping ship. He then took a shot at the Colorado program as a whole:
“I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference and I don’t remember,” Lanning told reporters on Monday. “Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything.”
Dan Lanning with the 🎤 ⬇️
(via @JamesCrepea, @BrennaGreene_) pic.twitter.com/h1v6ueUBwI
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 31, 2023
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To Lanning’s point, Colorado hasn’t exactly been a game-changer on the field for the Pac-12 since joining in 2011. The Buffaloes have had just two winning seasons in that span. The first was in 2016, when the team went 10-4 under former coach Mike MacIntyre; the second came in 2020, when they went 4-2 in the COVID-19-affected season.
Colorado has made one Pac-12 championship game appearance, losing to No. 4 Washington 41-10 in 2016. The Buffs have also made just two bowl games in that span — both Alamo Bowl losses — and have the worst record in the conference at 48-94. They have nine fewer wins than second-to-last Oregon State.
Lanning’s Ducks also went into Boulder, Colo., in 2022 and beat the Buffaloes 49-10. On-field results and parting blows aside, Colorado’s move to the Big 12 is indicative of bigger problems in the Pac-12.
BENDER: Why a Colorado reunion with Big 12 makes sense
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has to this point has failed to secure a media rights deal for his conference, though he reportedly plans to put a proposal in front of conference leaders in the wake of Colorado’s defection.
Of note: The Big 12 negotiated four “pro rata” slots in its six-year, $2.28 billion deal with ESPN and Fox, meaning the conference will get a raise for each Power 5 school it adds, making it financially feasible for other teams to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12.
Arizona has been rumored to want to leave the conference as well, with the two remaining “Four Corner” schools — Arizona State and Utah — potentially following along as well. If such a mass exodus were to occur on the heels of UCLA and USC moving to the Big Ten, then the Pac-12 would be comprised of Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington and Washington State.
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Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has said he is focused on getting UCLA and USC into the conference before pondering any further expansion, though that doesn’t preclude additional poaching from the remaining schools on the Pacific Coast.
In that sense, Colorado’s exit from the Pac-12 could be more impactful than Lanning believes.