Joel Klatt smells the smoke, too. And when it comes to the rumors about the CU Buffs and the Big 12, he’s starting to wonder if Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has arrived too late to put out the fire.
“If you forced me to give you an answer, I would venture a guess that it would be the Big 12,” the FOX Sports analyst and former Buffs quarterback told The Post recently when asked to predict which conference the Buffs would be playing football in by 2027. “And the only reason I say that is, there’s no (Pac-12 media) deal.
“Everything that’s come out from the Pac-12 is always about something that’s about to happen, (or) news that will come. I feel like we’ve just been led along for a long time about some deal that was never going to come to fruition. That’s a problem.”
The Pac-12 is the only Power 5 conference not to have its television rights locked up for the 2024 football season. The league’s 12-year contracts with FOX and ESPN are slated to expire on July 1, 2024.
Like many CU alums and fans, Klatt, who played football and baseball at Pomona High School and was part of three Buffs bowl teams from 2002-05, is frustrated with the conflicting statements put out by Pac-12 leaders as next year’s deadline draws closer.
“That doesn’t mean (the Pac-12) won’t land something,” said Klatt, whose latest series of podcast interviews — “Big Noon Conversations” — is scheduled to drop Monday with an interview with new CU football coach Deion Sanders. “I’m not sure (what’s going to happen).”
Multiple sources have told The Post that the Buffs’ first choice is to remain within the Pac-12, which took a body blow a year ago this month when conference giants USC and UCLA announced they were joining the Big Ten. Since then, speculation on CU’s future has been rife, with Big 12 administrators such as Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades even inferring that the Buffs’ former league has been engaged in luring CU back into the fold.
The Big 12, which lost its own tentpole schools in Texas and Oklahoma, recently added Cincinnati, BYU, UCF and Houston and last October announced a six-year extension with FOX Sports and ESPN that’s reportedly worth $2.2 billion.
As to which league he’d prefer to see his alma mater be a part of down the road, Klatt demurred.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Klatt replied. “I would say it matters more how committed they are going to be internally. External factors are not going to make them a more competitive or better program … (as long as) Deion (will) have the resources he needs to be successful and recruit at the highest level, it won’t matter what their schedule looks like.”
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