University of Colorado at Boulder Joins Pac-10

Pac-10 Conference News Release

BOULDER, Colo. -- The Pacific-10 Conference announced today that the University of Colorado at Boulder has accepted an invitation to join the Conference as its 11th member, the first new member since the University of Arizona and Arizona State University were admitted on July 1, 1978.

Colorado is an excellent fit for the Pac-10 Conference, both academically and athletically, as a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). Classified as a Research University with very high research activity by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, CU shares a dedication to academic excellence and a passion for service with the existing Pac-10 member Universities.

Colorado is the number one NASA-funded public university in the world and brings an impressive portfolio of academic achievements to the Pac-10. These achievements, coupled with those of existing members, including the University of California's 25 Nobel laureates and the University of Arizona's pioneering space mission to Mars, further distinguish the Pac-10.

Colorado is one of only three universities in the United States to receive a Presidential Award for General Community Service. The University of Washington and the CU rank first and second, respectively, in active Peace Corps members, while O-Heroes, a non-profit community organization program formed by the University of Oregon athletic department, was recently recognized by the United Way for exemplary volunteer service.

In addition to the shared academic excellence, the Colorado and the existing Pac-10 member institutions hold impressive athletic resumes, including Stanford's 15-consecutive Learfield Sports Directors' Cups and UCLA's 106 NCAA Championships. Pac-10 teams have combined to win 390 NCAA titles, by far the most of any other conference in the country, and the Buffaloes will add to that 21 NCAA titles, including 16 in skiing and five in men's and women's cross country.

The Pac-10 has an unmatched excellence at the Olympic Games. At the 2008 Summer Olympics alone, the Conference's Games' roster included 259 Olympians across the 10 member institutions. Colorado has produced 75 all-time Olympians.

With over 35,000 alumni residing in the current Pac-10 footprint, more than three times the number living within the Big 12 regions, the Buffalo faithful should feel right at home in the Pac-10.

Pac-10 and CU-Boulder

Colorado has a long-standing tradition of playing Pac-10 teams in football. The Buffaloes have played 73 games against Pac-10 members, the second-most against any league CU has never been a part of. The first Pac-10 team Colorado met in a sporting event was a 1904 football game against Stanford in Denver

CU and Oregon became football rivals between 1984-2001, playing 15 times overall, the most against any Pac-10 squad. This Sept. 11, the Buffs renew their series with California, meeting for the first time in exactly 28 years.

Great matchups have occurred in other sports: Colorado and Stanford have dueled regularly for a time in the postseason in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament; CU regularly played UCLA in the late John Wooden's early years as head coach of the Bruins, and Washington in the 1950s and 1960s; golf teams have long been participants in most Pac-10 institutions' hosted tournaments.

Since 2000, CU has run neck-and-neck with Stanford, Oregon and Washington at the NCAA cross-country championships taking home three titles (two men, one women), while Stanford has won six (two men, four women), Oregon has won two men's titles and Washington captured a women's title in 2009.

For complete information including conference and institutional facts and histories visit grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pac10/genrel/auto_pdf/CUpresser2010.pdf.

A video of the June 11 news conference can be viewed at www.cubuffs.com.

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