Big 12 Up to 13 for 2024, What or Who is Next?
STILLWATER – In the war of words that has been going on since Texas and Oklahoma bolted for the SEC and Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff uttered the words, “I haven’t decided if I’m going to shop the Big 12 yet,” Kliavkoff is the loser and the new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark that started his tenure with the league with the statement, “The Big 12 is open for business,” is your winner.
It’s not like the Big 12 rode into the Rocky Mountains and stole the flagship school in Kliavkoff’s conference, but Colorado represents a big chip. The poker game the two commissioners and their conferences had been playing was one of words and bluffs, but now that the Big 12 has the Buffs, Yormark has a winning hand.
There is movement and it is in the Big 12’s favor and to the detriment of the Pac-12’s future. There is still no word on a multimedia rights contract for the Pac-12, and the current contract is now less than a year from being completed. Big schools like Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona State and the rest of the league need answers. They have coaches to pay, facilities to build or maintain, NIL to build up and keep athletes happy. College athletics isn’t cheap and that is why Colorado made the move.
Colorado thanked the Pac-12 today in their good bye for 12-years of providing a conference home to their teams. One college athletics administrator told me on “welcome CU to the Big 12 day” that had Colorado stayed in the Big 12 originally they would have collected (I see this as a conservative number) $71 million more in conference payout dollars over the last decade plus in the Pac-12. That is a big chunk of money in college athletics.
So much for that. Colorado is in and now Yormark needs another new member to even things out. My sources have told me to forget the UConn talk from earlier this summer or the Gonzaga as a hoops member only from last summer. Kliavkoff had best move quickly because his back gate is wide open, and Yormark is proving to be a better poacher.
Arizona is the obvious choice as the Wildcats and the media that covers them have talked up the Big 12 more than anybody, including until recently, Colorado. Arizona is good, but Yormark has always had an eye for all of the four corner schools. My conversations with counterparts at Arizona State have informed me that the Sun Devils are split down the middle on Big 12 or Pac-12. My guess is Big 12 is gaining, but how much?
It blows my mind but Utah, who I see the most value in doesn’t want to be in a league with rival and neighbor BYU. Utah has been emphatically backing the Pac-12.
“I think our words and actions speak for themselves,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said recently. “We are a proud member of this conference and look forward to its future success.”
Good luck with that. This is a situation where it might be beneficial to follow the Cougars down from the mountains to the plains.
The prize now is Oregon and Washington. They’ve supposedly been vetted by the Big Ten, but the Big Ten doesn’t want the blood of permanently bringing the Pac-12 to a demise. I’ve got news for all those Big Ten officials and school presidents, the blood has been dripping off of your hands since you grabbed USC and UCLA. C’mon, I can’t buy that message. You guys proved to be piranhas.
Yormark is hot, so keep moving and keep dealing.
I don’t know what will happen, but if I were sitting co-pilot or (shotgun) with the Big 12 boss then I say grab Arizona and head up the Northwest Passgage, follow Lewis and Clark, and grab Oregon and Washington. Make them even happier and further welcomed by adopting Oregon State (better in football this season) and Washington State too.
That adds up to 18. If Arizona State and Utah come to their senses, then the Big 12 is the first to 20. If the Sun Devils and Utes stay pat then they can play in the Mountain West under a new name: Pac-12.