I didn't know this before, but apparently the Big XII has been looking to get rid of Colorado for a few years now. This is due to two reasons:

1. Colorado's athletic department is very poorly run. They've had some really bad hires and very embarrassing scandals recently, which have greatly compromised the values and identity that the University wishes to portray. The athletic department there is by far the least efficient in the conference, and doesn't look to be improving anytime soon. Fans of the Big XII North have even started blaming CU as a reason for the North division's relative weakness vis-a-vis the South division. Finally, the Denver market is becoming less and less of an asset for the Big XII because fan interest in Buffaloes sports has dropped in favor of professional sports, and the Colorado administration so far seems unwilling or unable to fix that trend.

2. The Big XII wants BYU. For some reason, there happen to be a lot of BYU alumni working in the Presidents' offices of Texas and Oklahoma, (and I believe at the A.D.'s office at one other school...Kansas perhaps?). But to add BYU and stay at 12 teams, you have to kick someone else out...

For years, Colorado has had the Big XII monopoly in recruiting the west coast. This has especially hurt other Big XII North teams, who typically compete against Big 10 schools for midwest recruits. BYU, on the other hand, takes a different recruiting approach that is based more on religious affiliation, and less on geographic location. Opening California up to the rest of the Big XII is a huge desire, and BYU probably wouldn't hold the monopoly the same way Colorado does. Basically, the Big XII believes that BYU will continue to recruit their style of player, and the Big XII North can start recruiting California better when Colorado is out of the picture.

The problem is, the Big XII agreement says that the conference would have to pay Colorado a pretty hefty buyout if they tried to kick them out...that is, unless Colorado leaves voluntarily to join another automatic qualifying conference. In that case, the Big XII can simply let them leave without having to pay anything.

Apparently, a former member of the Big XII commission has been working with the new Pac-10 commissioner to arrange a Pac-10 expansion scenario that would take Colorado off the Big XII's hands for free. Utah would likely get that 12th spot in the Pac-10.

I was surprised when my source told me that the recent rumors we've been hearing about Pac-10 expansion have actually come from Big XII insiders who are now working this deal. He says that everything will come out soon, and when it does, Utah fans will realize that they should have been thanking BYU all along.

EDIT: Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys. I'll try to post more details when I get the green light.

As you can see, I just edited this post because I originally made a typo that made it sound like the plan was to move BYU to the Big XII South. That's not what I meant to convey to you. The plan is for BYU to play in the Big XII North division. Sorry about the confusion.