Arizona Board of Regents Scheduled to Meet Again on Thursday Regarding Athletics Issue
The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday at 6 p.m. mountain in executive session to discuss two items, including an athletics issue.
After a review of assignments for Arizona State president Michael Crow and Arizona president Robert Robbins, the board will discuss “possible legal advice and discussion regarding university athletics.” The board represents both Pac-12 member schools.
This comes after the board mets two days ago, after the Pac-12 presidents were presented with the framework of a potential media rights deal for its intercollegiate sports that would begin in 2024-25.
That meeting on Tuesday led to no action by the board.
The Pac-12 Conference is fighting for survival amid three defections in the past 13 months. First, USC and UCLA announced last summer that it would join the Big Ten Conference, beginning in the 2024-25 season.
Then, after a year of the Pac-12 failing to secure a competitive media rights deal, Colorado announced last week that it would return to the Big 12 starting in 2024-25.
With no media rights deal, more defections are possible. Arizona is rumored to be the next school considering a move to the Big 12. The conference has also shown interest in Arizona State and Utah, the remaining ‘four corners’ schools.
On Wednesday it was reported the Big Ten is also starting to vet more expansion candidates, with an emphasis on Oregon, Washington, Stanford and California.
Also, Florida State’s leadership has expressed dissatisfaction with the ACC’s current media deal and is making noise that it could leave the conference well before that league’s grant of rights expires, which is more than a decade off.
It’s clear that Colorado’s decision has, at the least, set off the potential for more moves that could see more Pac-12 schools peel off and embolden schools in other conferences that were perceived as safe to start exploring options, too.
