Deion Sanders Hypes Colorado's Move to Big 12 in 2024: 'We Plan on Changing the Game'

Deion Sanders is all-in on Colorado's return to the Big 12 after the 2023 season.

Speaking to Carl Reed of 247Sports, the Buffaloes head coach addressed the decision for the program to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12.

"If everything I'm hearing is true, I applaud our [Athletic Director] Rick George for choosing the best scenario for all athletics at CU," Sanders said. "This move is a game-changer and we plan on changing the game."

Colorado's board of regents voted Thursday to approve a move to the Big 12 after the conference's presidents and chancellors unanimously voted to add the program.

As realignment continues across college football, Colorado's decision to move on from the Pac-12 leaves the conference in a state of uncertainty.

It was announced last year that USC and UCLA are going to join the Big Ten, effective Aug. 2, 2024. The Pac-12's media rights contract expires next summer, though ESPN's Heather Dinich recently reported the conference expects to announce details of its next deal in the "near future."

In a statement released Thursday in the wake of the news Colorado is leaving, the Pac-12 said it will "will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the" conference.

Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011 after spending 15 years in the Big 12. The football program won the Big 12 championship in 2001 and represented the Pac-12 South in the Pac-12 Championship Game in 2016.

Sanders is entering his first season as Buffaloes head coach. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has already had a profound impact on the program, starting with a sell-out crowd of 47,277 fans to watch the spring game on April 22.

Colorado landed former Houston running back Alton McCaskill in a transfer this season and 4-star athlete Aaron Butler in its 2024 recruiting class.

The Buffaloes went 1-11 last season and haven't had a winning record in a full season since 2016. They did go 4-2 in the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.