Big 12 reportedly paid impressive signing bonus to Colorado

Back in July, it was revealed that Colorado would leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 in 2024. And as it turns out, the conference welcomed the Buffaloes in a big, big way.

USA Today reports that the Big 12 paid Colorado a signing bonus of $2.5 million in late July as part of their new round of expansion. The information was obtained from Colorado through an open-records request.

That may seem like a significant amount of money for Colorado, but you have to factor in the Deion Sanders effect. He’s turned the program around in just a few short months and has the Buffaloes ranked No. 19 in the country ahead of a Saturday game against 10th-ranked Oregon. It will be the final time these two teams meet as members of the Pac-12.

Beyond all of that, Sanders has managed to capture the attention of the entire country, giving Colorado its most significant exposure potentially ever. In fact, Colorado has been such a hot ticket that they’ve spent three straight weeks as either Fox’s "Big Noon Kickoff" host or the host city for ESPN’s "College GameDay."

None of that will stop critics from questioning the $2.5 million payment, however. And it will be years before any of us know if that decision paid off.