Big 12 Football: 3 programs that made a mistake leaving the conference

1. Colorado Buffaloes

It would seem like a huge step up for the Colorado Buffaloes if they were even able to finish in the middle of the pack year in and year out in the PAC-12 South. Colorado had one season since joining the PAC-12 back during the 2012 season, and even made it to the conference title game. But they were walloped by the Washington Huskies in the 2016 PAC-12 Championship Game.

And they even wound up falling short at the hands of their former Big 12 foe Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl to cap the 2016 season. That game wasn’t very close either. The misfortune that former head coach Mike MacIntyre saw to round up the 2016 season is largely a microcosm of their experience since joining the PAC-12.

There was only that one occasion during the 2016 season that Colorado didn’t finish in the bottom half of the PAC-12 South standings. And the Buffs have only made it to one bowl game since bolting from the Big 12.

There was a point in time in which Colorado was one of the nation’s best college football programs, alongside the likes of Oklahoma and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The 1990’s were pretty good to Colorado. Since the turn of the century, they haven’t found much success consistently. That is especially true since they joined the PAC-12.

Colorado can be a fun program to follow when they’re good. But hard recruiting restrictions and a PAC-12 South that for some reason isn’t friendly to them at all holds them back to a massive degree. Common coaching staff turnover also holds back any longevity they could find in terms of players development or success on the recruiting trail.

MacIntyre was about their most successful head coach since the program joined the PAC-12, and that says a lot.