By Jackson Posey | Sportswriter
Earlier this month, four new schools – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah – officially joined the Big 12, bringing the total number of conference members to 16.
“I am incredibly excited about what each school brings to our league both on and off the field – great markets, great fan bases and great brands, in addition to athletic and academic excellence,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a press release. “With this move, we become a national conference, and there is no better time than now to join the Big 12.”
These days, it seems like every major conference is becoming a “national conference.” The Big 10 now stretches from New Jersey to Southern California; the Atlantic Coast Conference has added two schools from the Pacific Coast in California and Stanford. A year ago, the Big 12 expanded its footprint southeast to Orlando, Florida, and northwest to Provo, Utah.
So it’s no surprise that the Big 12 — struggling tooth and nail to compete with the SEC and Big 10’s lavish television contracts — is interested in raiding the Pac-12, especially after the departures of its four biggest ratings draws (Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA) left the conference floundering and without a television contract. A year after losing flagship programs Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the Big 12 had managed to right the ship and sink its western neighbors.
Perhaps most notable is the return of Colorado, which played in the Big 12 from 1996 to 2011 before its unfortunate move to the Pac-12. The Buffaloes have a storied football program and won an AP National Championship in 1990, but have had just one season with more than five wins since leaving the Big 12. Head coach Deion Sanders took over a 1-11 squad last season and improved it by three games, including a ranked win over TCU — though Sanders’ method of roster changes has been widely viewed as controversial.
However, the Buffaloes have been extremely successful in other sports, including with their 20-time national champion ski program and their eight-time national cross country champion team. The men’s basketball program has appeared in six NCAA tournaments since head coach Tad Boyle took over in 2010. Boyle has proven adept at developing NBA talent during his time in Boulder, drafting 10 players (including three this year). The women’s team has made it to the Sweet 16 two straight times and should continue to impress under head coach JR Payne.
The Arizona Wildcats have one of the most dominant softball programs in the history of the sport. They have won eight national championships since their inception in 1974, winning over 75 percent of their games. The baseball team has won four national titles of its own. Not to be overshadowed, the men’s basketball team won the 1997 national championship despite a historically difficult schedule: three wins over the No. 1 seed in the same tournament, the first team to ever accomplish that feat.
However, funding for many of Arizona’s smaller sports could be in jeopardy due to the university’s recently discovered $177 million budget deficit. New athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois told 91.5 KJZZ in Phoenix that “cuts to athletics are not part of our plan,” though plans are subject to change. Just five months earlier, university president Robert Robbins had reportedly warned faculty of impending “draconian cuts” and admitted he had considered selling the athletic department to an outside vendor.
“As far as how to handle sports, anything is possible,” Robbins said, after noting that Arizona’s 23 sports teams are above the Big 12 average of 17. “This is an issue that is going to require a lot of difficult decisions.”
Arizona State, meanwhile, is dealing with on-field problems after former football coach Herm Edwards violated NCAA recruiting rules and the program was hit with four years of probation and scholarship cuts, among other things. The Sun Devils have gone 6-18 over the past two seasons and were picked to finish last in the Big 12 in the conference’s preseason media poll.
Off the field, however, the Sun Devils have some historic programs. Their baseball program boasts five national championships and star alumnae Barry Bonds and Reggie Jackson. The women’s golf team has eight national titles, and Grace Park; the men’s golf team has two national titles, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm. The softball team has won four national championships, most recently in 2011. The wrestling team has one national team championship and 13 individual championships.
Utah is a relatively new entrant to the league of power conferences in college sports, but has made a name for itself in a short amount of time. The Utes moved up from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 alongside Colorado in 2012 after enjoying considerable success in football, including undefeated seasons in 2004 and 2008. Since joining, the program has gained significant momentum both in terms of infrastructure (including the opening of a new football facility and the expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium to over 51,000 seats) and on the field, winning the Pac-12 in 2021 and 2022 before being plagued by injuries in 2023.
But it’s not just on the football field. Utah’s gymnastics team, also known as the Red Rocks, has won ten national championships. Five of the last seven national titles have gone to the ski team. And after winning it all in 1944, the men’s basketball team made it back to the national championship game in 1998, where they led by 10 points at halftime before eventually losing 78-69 to Kentucky.
