It's Official! Big 12 Conference is 16 Members Strong with Four Members

STILLWATER – There weren’t any parades that we know of and we didn’t hear of Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark going on a barnstorming campaign, but the Big 12 did officially welcome in the four new members coming from the Pac-12. Often referred to as the four corner schools, Univesity of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Colorado, and University of Utah are now officially in the Big 12. The reason for Aug. 2 admittance versus July 1 on the first day of the fiscal calendar had to do with departure from the Pac-12 and business agreements including the Pac-12 Networks, which now are officially off the air. 

The fanfare may not have been there but the sentiment is. These four schools were the target of Yormark and his opportunity to put his stamp on the new Big 12 and expansion. 

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Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark

“I’m thrilled to officially welcome Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah into the Big 12 family,” Yormark said in a statement from the Big 12 office. “I’m 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. With this move, we become a national Conference, and there’s no better time than right now to be a part of the Big 12.”

There has been skepticism about the four schools and their varied eagerness to join the Big 12. The bottomline is they had no choice once theBig Ten Conference elected to bring in Oregon and Washington on top of their original move to grap Pac-12 Los Angeles schools in USC and UCLA.

Former Big Eight and Big 12 member Colorado had already jumped. Utah moved quietly, while Arizona and Arizona State came in more kicking and screaming, but that has died down. Being wanted certainly trumps being left out. 

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Arizona is welcomed into the Big 12.

“The Big 12 is a conference on the rise and a perfect fit for the University of Arizona. It is much more than just a change in our competitive landscape,” University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins said. “Together, we are creating new opportunities for student-athletes and building a new model for college athletics. The increased exposure and resources that come with being part of the Big 12 will benefit Arizona Athletics and our entire university community. We begin this new chapter honoring our traditional rivalries and forging new ones with universities that have exceptional programs and passionate fans who share our love of competition and commitment to academic excellence.”

Dr. Robbins was the most stubborn of the four corner school’s administrators on joining the Big 12.

The University of Utah website did everybody a nice favor, new and old schools alike, with this story to familiarize each other.

Arizona and Arizona State bring their rivalry to the Big 12 as does Utah back in a league with longtime bitter rival BYU. However, there are signs the new Big 12 rivalry involving an existing Big 12 school and one of the newbies may be Utah and Oklahoma State. Head coaches in football Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (162-79are both 20-year head coaches at their schools and are separated by four games in their career win-loss record. Mike Gundy (166-79) has four more wins and they are even on losses.  

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Kyle Whitting ham and Mike Gundy

“Coach Gundy has done a terrific job there, just competitive every single year,” Whittingham said. “Fields quality football teams. They’re tough. They’re physical. Reminds me a lot of us. I think there’s a lot of parallels between the two programs. I think myself and Coach Gundy are weeks apart from when we took over these programs, so we both have been anomalies, I guess you could say, in our own respect.”

Gundy has said the same things. “Kyle has built his program on discipline and toughness. He has done a great job and they will be a major challenge for us or anybody else in this league. They are a championship-caliber program.”

The players have already gotten into it. I have yet to hear anything from the Cowboys players, but the Utah players got a little chippy with comments on the internet.

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Utah Utes want the Cowboys.

"Oklahoma State, in Stillwater, it's gonna be awesome," answered linebacker Lander Barton as to which game he was most looking forward to.

"That fourth game versus Oklahoma State," agreed fellow linebacker Levani Damuni.

"Oklahoma State. I heard they have the number one running back or whatever but we will see about that," back-up defensive tackle Tevita Fotu said kind of disrespecting All-American Ollie Gordon II.

"I have two games I'm looking forward to I want to go to OK State and beat OK State,” safety Tao Johnson said. “And then I want to beat Colorado. I want to beat Deion at Colorado. And then you know, I don't really think about it much. But of course, is the BYU game. That's going to be lit but we got some big fish to fry."

Oklahoma State hosts Utah on Sept. 21 inside Boone Pickens Stadium in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. The Cowboys also play Arizona State on Homecoming in Stillwater on Nov. 2. The Cowboys have a long history with Colorado and will renew that football relationship on “black Friday” Nov. 29 with a 10 a.m. (MT) kickoff in Boulder.