For more than six months, CU officials have downplayed any discussion of a move from the Big 12 Conference to the Pac-10, but athletic director Mike Bohn tells The Denver Post that talks of an invite are heating up.

“Speculation is running rampant, at a higher level than in the last six months,” Bohn says. “Do I know we’ll get an invite? No, absolutely not. I have no confirmation other than a lot of people are talking about it.”

The Post cites subscription-based Orangebloods.com, a website covering the University of Texas, as saying that the Pac-10 could invite up to six schools, including Colorado, to join their conference. The deal could offer each school in the new, 16-school conference roughly $20 million annually.

Boulder’s Daily Camera says Pac-10 expansion—along with the potential expansion of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten—could leave the Big 12 a shell of its former self, especially if the University of Texas and Texas A&M bolt. While the other conferences will talk growth at upcoming weekend meetings, the Big 12 has plans to discuss how to keep schools from ditching the conference, including levying increased financial penalties on schools that leave. The Camera’s Neill Woelk writes, “I’m afraid the Big 12’s only choice will be to duck–and try to pick up the pieces when the shooting is over.”