Monday CU Buff Bites - Future Michigan Game Makes Way More Sense Now: B1G/Pac-12 Deal Falls Through

Recapping the Colorado Buffaloes Offseason Football and Pac-12 Media Day with news, links, and stories.

Big Ten, Pac-12 Suspend Football Scheduling Arrangement - SBNation.com

AWWWWWW, RAT FARTS. The Big Ten and Pac-12 had gone and created a really great football scheduling idea, whereby schools in each conference would play each other one-at-a-time in an out-of-conference series lasting until the end of time and leading into the Rose Bowl, but that's all done with now.

"Complications associated with coordinating a football schedule for 24 teams across two conferences proved to be too difficult," said Big Ten commish Jim Delany in a statement. For the time being, at least.

Football: CU Buffs' Mike Bohn disappointed in loss of Pac-12 and Big Ten deal - Buffzone

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said he was disappointed Friday when the Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences announced they were suspending plans for a scheduling partnership in football. The plan announced in December called for the 12 teams in both conferences to be pitted against one another each year on a rotating basis beginning in 2017.

It would have brought teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin to Boulder in the future. It has proven difficult for CU to get the most prominent Big Ten schools to agree to come to Boulder over the years.

"It's frustrating that we were so close but in the end weren't able to pull something together that in the end, I believe, would have been a terrific platform for not only the University of Colorado but our league, particularly with the launch of the Pac-12 network and the opportunity to create marquee matchups that would have been extremely attractive to be a part of," Bohn said.

Colorado recently announced it had completed its nonconference football scheduling through the 2016 season leading up to the start of that partnership. CU scheduled a road trip to Michigan in the 2016 season for a $1.45 million payday without the guarantee of a return game, in part, because the scheduling alliance was slated to begin the next year and CU would be guaranteed a game against Big Ten foe every year, including a game every other year in Boulder.

That lone non-return game against Michigan makes more sense in the context of the larger deal; but it still stinks that the non-conference schedule looks like it does.

Preseason position reviews: Linebacker - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN - We're in the middle, 'Good Shape' category:

Colorado: Jon Major and Doug Rippy are a strong, experienced tandem and Derrick Webb also is a returning starter. The only issue the Buffs have is the weakness up front might make life hard for their 'backers.

After the jump, Pac-12 Media Day Primer, ASU Opponent Watch, and Throwback Games in Balch Fieldhouse...

Pac-12 media day primer - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN

Kevin and I are getting ready for Pac-12 media day next week. So should you. Here's a primer.

So what can we expect?
- Teams at the top will tamp down expectations. Teams at the bottom will bemoan a lack of respect and insist they don't give a flip about so-called pundits.
- Every team will claim an outstanding offseason, perhaps even calling workout attendance "the best ever." There's a good chance many will be exaggerating.
- Graham will be asked about his controversial departure from Pittsburgh for the 10,000th time, and the reporter who does so will win a set of steak knives (there's a reason reporters ask the same question over and over).
- Lane Kiffin will say nothing controversial. And some of us will miss the old Kiffin.

There's more on that list. You should read them. Some are funny, all are true.

Opponent Watch: Football Fast Forward: Arizona State > Pac12 > News

The Pac-12 Networks launch August 15 and will broadcast at least one game from all 12 teams in our first month of football. We can't wait -- each school's Networks debut game is previewed here, with an assist from SB Nation.

Opponent Watch: ASU Football: The Myth Of The Sleeping Giant - House Of Sparky

Over the fruitless Koetter and Erickson eras at Arizona State, the disappointment, heartbreak and frustrations far outweighed the successes. For every win over Cal moment, there were three blocked extra points against USC. Those sustained failures have taken a significant toll on the fanbase, but at the end of the day, the fans continued to comfort themselves with a single recurring thought: Arizona State is a sleeping giant. Hate to break it to you. No. Not it's not. And it never has been.

Pac-12 impact transfers - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN

Every season, players transfer from one school to another. Some are never heard from again. Some flourish. Here are a few incoming Pac-12 transfers who could have an impact this year.

Quarterbacks Jordan Webb (Kansas to Colorado) and Connor Wood (Texas to Colorado): It's a good bet that the Buffaloes starting quarterback will be one of these two in 2012. Webb, a former starter, bolted for Boulder when he was no longer wanted by new Jayhawks coach Charlie Weis. Wood, a once touted recruit, left Texas after losing a competition for the starting job.

Not for the Faint of Heart " CU At the Game - A CU Football blog by Stuart Whitehair

Six straight losing seasons … A 3-10 record in 2011 … No offensive skill position starters returning … Best player on the team, Paul Richardson, already lost for the season due to injury … A defensive line so thin the team couldn’t even conduct a normal spring game … A team ranked 100th or worse last season in rushing offense, scoring offense, total defense, scoring defense, punt returns and kickoff returns …

Need I go on?

Unfortunately, the preseason prognosticators will have no choice but to go on … and on. With pages to fill in their preseason magazines, it will be hard to find an optimistic tone in any 2012 predictions. The odds of Colorado cracking the Top 25 are astronomical (Las Vegas has the chances of CU winning the national championship pegged at 500-to-1, odds similar to teams like Hawai’i, Syracuse and Nevada), so don’t look for any preseason picks to buck the trend and consider the Buffs to be a title contending team.

As you can tell, Stuart is looking for the Buffs to play like a bunch of freshman. Wait a second...

Rashaan Salaam heads CU Buffs Hall of Fame class - Buffzone

Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, former Butkus Award winner Matt Russell, All-American distance runners Mary Decker Slaney and Alan Culpepper and legendary radio play-by-play man Larry Zimmer head the largest class of inductees in University of Colorado athletics Hall of Fame history.

The school announced 12 new inductees Thursday at the annual Casotti Classic golf tournament at Pelican Lake Golf Course. It is the ninth class in CU history and it will be officially inducted on Nov. 15. Three of the inductees played in the tournament are were on hand Thursday, including Frank Bernardi, who played football and baseball at CU from 1952 to 1955.

RINGO: Time for one last CU Buffs basketball game in Balch Fieldhouse - Buffzone

There is a pretty cool idea floating around the Colorado athletic department. It might never come to fruition, but it says here every effort should be made to see that it does. The CU men's basketball team hasn't played a game in Balch Fieldhouse since Feb. 24, 1979 when it lost to Kansas 71-60.

But coach Tad Boyle and athletic director Mike Bohn are exploring the possibility of hosting a nonconference game in the 75-year old building on the west side of Folsom Field sometime in the next two or three years.

Imagine a throwback night in the historic building.Those who experienced it back in the day say it used to be a loud, imposing place for opponents to visit. Players could wear throwback uniforms from one of the great seasons from the 1940s, 50s, 60s or 70s. Cheerleaders, too.

Imagine a game with novideo boards for instant replays and the price of a coke or a tub of popcorn are throwbacks, too.What might be dreamed up for a halftime show? Some might say it's not worth it to host a game in the building if so few fans can experience it.

But that's no reason at all to not do it. In fact, it's an opportunity.

Fresh faces: Wesley Gordon ready to join up with Josh Scott in post - Buffzone

In a normal year, Wesley Gordon would have been the big fish in a small pond. But it was Josh Scott -- the 6-foot-10 all-everything prospect from Lewis-Palmer High School -- who committed to Colorado first and celebrated a 4A state championship in March at the Coors Events Center.

Gordon chose CU three days after Scott's headline-grabbing decision and then settled for state runner-up as his Sierra team lost in the classic title game between the Colorado Springs rivals.

Hard feelings? Hardly.

"We're the dynamic duo now," Scott said. "We're rooming right now and we get along real well. In high school we were never hostile with each other. We were competitive with each other, but it's good to be playing with him finally."

Go Buffs