— On the possibility of joining the Big 12:
Parker: “What I’ve been telling people is that we need to be the very best version of Colorado State that we can be. We need to work hard to be good peers with our partners within the Mountain West. In doing that, we need to aggressively work hard to dominate them on the field of competition and on the courts every time we match up. The pathway, if that dialogue opens up, was pretty well proven by a program like TCU. If you can prove you can compete at the highest levels and you’ve made the appropriate investments in your program, you have a chance.
“But I’m not sure how much motivation there is within the Big 12 to expand. President (David) Boren (of Oklahoma) provided his comments, and that’s a viewpoint within the conference, but I think there are others that feel comfortable at 10 and I think what’s ultimately going to decide it for them is access to the (football) playoff. Do they feel a 10-member league is going to be accepted in that format or do they have to grow in order to provide their programs the best pathway into a championship playoff system.”
— On the Colorado rivalry, in the wake of Colorado’s announced intention to not continue the series on an annual basis after the contract ends in 2020. (CU has said CSU will be a candidate to fill future openings, but will not be locked into an annual game.)
Parker: “Right now, we have an agreement that has them coming here in 2020. That’s one year we can point towards that they’re going to be here. . . There’s interest in them extending beyond 2020 and if they were to do that, I think they’re most comfortable with home and homes, which I think we would be, too. There will be opportunities for us in the future, if we don’t play CU beyond 2020 in Denver, there will be opportunities for us to play power fives, with our return game being at Sports Authority.”