Joel Klatt surprised Colorado's move to the Big 12 didn't come sooner

With Colorado off to the Big 12, Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt was surprised it didn’t happen sooner. A former Buffaloes quarterback himself, he called Colorado’s move a homecoming after leaving the Pac-12.

A long-time Big 12 member, the move to the Pac-12 over a decade ago might’ve been a surprise to most. But with no media deal in place, USC and UCLA moving on to the Big Ten and likely other factors, Colorado made the move.

It was about time.

“I’m actually a bit surprised that it didn’t happen sooner,” Klatt said on his podcast. “Based on what has gone on over the last eight months, I believe that Colorado has shown a great amount of patience in dealing with the Pac-12 and what could potentially come from a television deal and ultimately what they saw was more stability, more exposure, a revenue picture that looked much more stable. 

“In a lot of ways when you sit back and you look at it with all the things that I’ve just talked about over the last few minutes, this was a bit of a no-brainer. It’s a bit of a no-brainer, and at times, you can wonder like, wow, I’m shocked that it took this long.”

Colorado move to Big 12 a long time coming

Colorado’s move to the Big 12 gives the football program a wider recruiting footprint. And it goes into a very fertile area.

“From Colorado’s perspective, Deion wants to recruit in Texas,” Klatt said. “See, I don’t think it’s necessarily about those things. I think it’s more about what I’ve been talking about from a marketplace standpoint. And then you get into Colorado makes this move, this move is beyond coach Prime.

“This move is for the future of the athletic department and institution. They needed to make this move because of the instability of the Pac-12.”

The Pac-12, as it stands, will be down to nine teams next season. Right now, it’s not a good look for a Power Five conference.

“Clearly what they viewed as a better partnership and way forward into the future (is) the Big 12,” Klatt said. “After USC and UCLA moved, the Pac-12 was already on shaky ground. And that became even more shaky when the deal never arrived when they were beat to market by the Big 12. 

“And so everything that happened, further destabilized that conference, and led to Colorado making this decision to go out there and join forces with the Big 12 and go back home, if you will.”