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Denver • Colorado will join the Pac-12 Conference next year and will have $6.863 million in future revenues withheld as a penalty by the Big 12, about half what the school originally feared.
The CU Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve the move, which prevents Colorado from being a lame-duck school in an awkward 11-team Big 12 next season.
"Nobody's talked about the student-athletes' experience and I think they're the real winners right here," athletic director Mike Bohn said. "Not only for the Pac-12 but the Big 12, all those athletes, it's very important for our student-athletes to have a great experience, knowing who they're going to play, to be able to compete for a championship knowing it's going to be equitable."
Nebraska, which will leave for the Big Ten next year, will have $9.255 million withheld. The higher amount is based on what the two schools have historically earned through TV and bowl game appearances. If Nebraska is one of two Big 12 schools to make one of the five lucrative BCS bowls this season, the amount withheld will be $500,000 less.
Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano has spearheaded the negotiations with the Big 12 since June, when Colorado announced it would leave for the Pac-10. He said the Big 12 initially said it would withhold funds totalling $14 million-$15 million.
He said the school's goal was to get the amount withheld under $9 million.
"Having a mediator really helped," DiStefano said. "I look at mediation like going to the dentist's office. You don't want to go and you don't like being there but when it's done you feel relieved."
Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott confirmed in a phone interview that the conference will float Colorado the $6.863 million loan, which will be paid back with future earnings from the Pac-12's upcoming TV negotiations and the school's expected future ticket revenue and booster donations.
Bohn said since Colorado announced it would join the Pac-10, Buff Club donations from the state of California have gone up almost 400 percent.
The regents were happy the amount is low.
"Very pleased," Steve Bosley said. "You have to be realistic. You always go into a deal saying, 'What's the worst? What's the most?' … I don't think we anticipated it to be quite this low. I was prepared for a little bit more."
Scott, who originally guaranteed a loan up to $10 million, said the loan is worth it to include Colorado.
"I'm very excited about it," he said. "It's going to mean earlier than we anticipated we're going to see the benefits of going to 12 teams, having a championship game a year earlier than we anticipated and having a new bump in revenue in 2011. It makes it all the more immediate."
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said he is relieved he can scratch the difficult 11-team schedule he arranged. The Big 12 plans on a nine-game round-robin football schedule, a double round-robin basketball schedule and disbanding the football title game.
"The problems of going from 12 members this year to 11 next year then to 10 the next year in all of our sports is problematic," Beebe said in a conference call. "It delayed the effect to what our real future is. Colorado had motivation to move on. The Pac-10 had motivation to move on. We don't want an institution that's leaving to have to sit in the conference for a couple of years."
Bohn must find another home game for Colorado's 2011 football schedule. The school is contractually obligated to suite owners and sponsors to have six home games. The Buffaloes are currently set to play at Hawaii, Colorado State in Denver and at Ohio State.
California is scheduled to return a nonconference game in Boulder on Sept. 9, but Scott said that will become a conference game.