Every time we've had realignment for the past 30ish years of this merry-go-round, the shifts have ended up falling way short of speculation of "this time the dominos will fall & we'll have a monumental shift".
Probably the biggest changes were when the ACC expanded to end the Big East as a football conference and when the Big 8 merged with UT, aTm, TTU & Baylor to kill the SWC. But conference killing usually doesn't happen.
So, let's assume it doesn't happen this time and the new number for conference size becomes 16.
With that assumption, which of these 2 options would you prefer (assuming the money
Option 1: CU to the Big 12
Assume we go along with ASU, UA & Utah to make 16.
Membership: CU, BYU, ASU, Utah, UA, KU, KSU, ISU, OSU, Baylor, TTU, TCU, Houston, Cincinnati, WVU, UCF
Figure that no matter the scheduling configuration (divisions, pods, fixed+rotation like ACC), there will be that main paired rival you play every Thanksgiving. In this case, CU probably ends up with OSU.
Option 2: CU stays in the Pac
Assume the Pac adds SDSU, Fresno State, Boise State, UNLV, New Mexico and CSU to get to 16. (Effectively a MWC raid)
Membership (in pairs for rivalry & travel partner): CU/CSU, Utah/Boise State. UA/ASU, UNLV/UNM, SDSU/FSU, Cal/Furd, UO/OSU, UW/WSU
*Note: I don't believe either would be stable long-term, since anyone would leave if the B1G/SEC came calling.
Probably the biggest changes were when the ACC expanded to end the Big East as a football conference and when the Big 8 merged with UT, aTm, TTU & Baylor to kill the SWC. But conference killing usually doesn't happen.
So, let's assume it doesn't happen this time and the new number for conference size becomes 16.
With that assumption, which of these 2 options would you prefer (assuming the money
Option 1: CU to the Big 12
Assume we go along with ASU, UA & Utah to make 16.
Membership: CU, BYU, ASU, Utah, UA, KU, KSU, ISU, OSU, Baylor, TTU, TCU, Houston, Cincinnati, WVU, UCF
Figure that no matter the scheduling configuration (divisions, pods, fixed+rotation like ACC), there will be that main paired rival you play every Thanksgiving. In this case, CU probably ends up with OSU.
Option 2: CU stays in the Pac
Assume the Pac adds SDSU, Fresno State, Boise State, UNLV, New Mexico and CSU to get to 16. (Effectively a MWC raid)
Membership (in pairs for rivalry & travel partner): CU/CSU, Utah/Boise State. UA/ASU, UNLV/UNM, SDSU/FSU, Cal/Furd, UO/OSU, UW/WSU
*Note: I don't believe either would be stable long-term, since anyone would leave if the B1G/SEC came calling.