On Friday, August 2nd, 2024, the Big 12 officially expanded to 16 teams. It had been about 12 months in the making since it became first reported that the Big 12 would be adding the “Four Corners” schools of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
It’s the second-straight year the Big 12 has added four schools, and of course in the middle of all this chaos, the domino that fell that really kick-started the process, was the loss of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. That became official last month.
But now, it’s a new era for the Big 12, and here are the biggest takeaways from these four new schools officially joining the conference.
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In Yormark We Trust
There’s no doubt that Brett Yormark deserves a ton of credit for being aggressive vs. the Pac-12 and doing what needed to be done to get the Big 12 to be the conference, of these two, to survive. Frankly, had the old guard been in charge, I’m not sure we’d be sitting here today talking about the existence of a Big 12.
But he was aggressive and wisely realize that the TV networks were unlikely to keep funding five major power conferences to the tune of tens of millions of dollars per year, per school. So despite the Pac-12 being “next in line” to negotiate their TV deal, Yormark cut the line and got his deal done first with ESPN and FOX. And yes, it helped that his old nemesis, former Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, was as clueless, and reportedly arrogant, as it comes, thinking he had leverage, and playing 7-2 off suite, as if he was holding pocket Aces.
Now, the Big 12 is in a position of power, while the Pac-12 is the Pac-2, Kliavkoff is playing golf somewhere, and the ACC is on the verge of implosion.
It’s a good time to be a Big 12 fan.
The Reunification with Colorado
Colorado is the school getting the most hype of the new Big 12 teams, and that’s because of one man: Deion Sanders. And for the casual college football fan, I understand why that would be so much of the focus.
But for those long-time Big 12 fans, having Colorado back in the mix is awesome for the conference, and it has nothing to do with Coach Prime.
Ask any old-school Big 12 fan and they will tell you about a time when the road trips to Boulder were some of the most fun they had traveling to college football games. Back when conferences were 10-12 teams and basically every one of them was drivable.
Colorado also had some really good teams during the Rick Neuheisel and Gary Barnett years. Games were fun and competitive, and Boulder was one of the great college towns in America to go visit.
So while the Deion Sanders hype is obviously part of their story, the reality is having Colorado back means a lot more to long-time Big 12 fans that just seeing an NFL Hall of Famer roaming the sidelines with a headset.
In an era when college football rivalries are being lost, and having to be recreated, Big 12 fans are happy to welcome back a familiar face.
A Legit 20th Century Blue Blood?
One of the dumbest things done in college football is using the term blue blood, especially for programs that haven’t been good in decades. But because they were good before those under 30 were born, we consider them a blue blood, thanks to the “old guard”.
Nebraska’s not a blue blood. Neither is Penn State. Nor is Miami. Is Texas really a blue blood? One great season in the last 15 years. It’s certainly a massive brand, but defining them as a blue blood is debatable.
But if you look at 20th century success, and especially pin down the last 10+ years, you can certainly make the case for Utah as a blue blood in this sport. Five Conference Championships in the last 20 years, two under Urban Meyer, three under Kyle Whittingham, plus another three Pac-12 South Division titles. No, they don’t have a National Championship to speak of, but they’ve finished ranked in the Top 25 nine times this century, and five times in the last decade.
Utah enters this conference with a legitimate chance to win it, and in a league that is looking for the “team to beat” for years to come, it could end up being the Utes.
The Arizona Schools and Untapped Potential
Arizona Basketball is one of the great brands in the college basketball, but both programs have had hit-or-miss success on the football field, with little consistency to speak of. This despite being in one of the fastest-growing states, with a solid recruiting base and massive undergraduate enrollments.
These schools are now in a conference that culturally feels like a better fit for them than the Pac-12, while also joining a league that is going to make their respective fan bases up their games as fans. Gone are the days of going to empty stadiums at Stanford or Cal, while having little fear of an opposing fan base entering your stadium en masse. Welcome, Cyclone Nation, rabid Texas Tech fans and die-hard Kansas State fans to The Copper State and let’s have some fun.
I genuinely believe that both fan bases, while possibly hesitant in joining this league due to their longer road trips, will benefit from being here and will come to love being a part of this conference for years to come.
