Based on the way they rolled over and played dead against Cal Saturday, it’s likely that every single member of the Pac-10 is hoping like hell Colorado joins the conference as soon as possible.
Unfortunately for those looking for a feast of Buffalo, it appears their move from the Big 12 will happen later rather than sooner.
Speaking to reporters before Cal shellacked Colorado 52-7, commissioner Larry Scott sounded decidedly pessimistic that the Buffaloes would join his conference any earlier than 2012.
“The chances are worse than 50-50,” Scott said according to the Boulder Daily Camera. “I don`t know how to rank it beyond that. At this stage, we’re planning as though they`re coming in in 2012. In other words, we’ve got an 11-team football schedule for next year teed up.”
Utah will join the Pac-10 in 2011, and obviously the conference would like to know as soon as possible whether or not Colorado will join the Utes as things such as a conference title game would need to be decided upon. A soft deadline of mid-October has been “set” by Scott for a firm decision by Colorado.
“That`s a self-imposed deadline,” he said. “We could (move it back) on the one hand, but I think we`re going to hit a point in time where any planning for a football championship game, television scheduling, it would be problematic. So, I think we`ve set it as an internal timetable.”
The biggest issue for the Buffs leaving early is money; if they leave after the 2011-2012 school year, their financial penalties from the Big 12 would be lessened to a great degree. Scott said the conference may be willing to work with the school as far as the exit penalties are concerned, but “there’s too many unknowns right now and we couldn’t commit to anything concrete.”