Bill Self likes Colorado addition by Big 12 because it 'brings others'

Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self loved the Colorado move to the Big 12 for selfish reasons.

Well not exactly selfish, but it’s good for the conference as a whole. Self is a conference man it seems. The addition was big from a football standpoint because of Deion Sanders leading the Buffaloes. But the impact on others is huge, such as basketball.

“From a Big 12-selfish standpoint, I like it because Colorado brings others,” Self said, via the Kansas City Star. “I think that if we are going to get to 16 (teams in the Big 12), I think what has transpired certainly puts us in position to be the third most powerful league in the country. I think that can actually occur.”

Self opened up the possibility of more teams coming to the Big 12. When and if that happens is another story.

“I think Colorado was a big piece to allow that to occur,” Self said. “Now whether or not we go get three more (teams) from the Pac-12 or two more and one from the Big East, I don’t know what we are going to do. I do think that Colorado puts us in certainly a better position with the Pac-12 than we were before.”

More on Colorado’s move to the Big 12

Earlier this month, Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and UCF joined the Big 12 as the conference prepares for the departure of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.

Because of the Longhorns and Sooners’ dominance since the conference’s inception — Colorado actually comes into the league as one of the more decorated teams in the conference’s history out of all its active members. 

The Buffs rank No. 6 in all-time (60) in Big 12 wins out of current league members (excluding Texas and OU) and have more conference wins than TCU (56), who just came off a College Football Playoff run, West Virginia (47) and Kansas (45). 

The Horned Frogs and Mountaineers came into the conference after the Buffs left for the Pac-12 in 2010, but the Jayhawks joined the conference with Colorado originally in 1996. After a 14-year hiatus from Colorado — Kansas still likely won’t come within 10 wins of the Buffs by the time they return. The same could be said about WVU.

If either Texas or Oklahoma wins the Big 12 Championship in 2023, Colorado will also enter their old conference tied for second-most in Big 12 Championships among active programs — with one, which they won back in 2001.