*Originally reported on June 6, 2023*
The Big 12 is reportedly on the verge of adding Colorado and Arizona in a move that could be devastating for the Pac-12.
According to the The Swaim Show, Colorado and Arizona are planning to leave for the Big 12, but nothing will become official until the Pac-12 finalizes their media deal.
BREAKING: Nothing becomes official until the #Pac12 gets their TV deal finalized, but now multiple sources tell us tonight that the #Buffs and #BearDown will move to the #Big12. No word on the #Utes and #SunDevils, but Yormark may just take two and save some spots for #ACC teams.
— SWAIM SHOW (@GSwaim) June 4, 2023
Over the past few months, officials from Colorado and Arizona have hinted that their loyalty to the Pac-12 depends on the conference’s next media deal. ESPN is rumored to have pulled out of negotiations as the primary media partner with the league as the Pac-12 remains the only major conference without a long-term media contract.
Back in March, the Big 12 reportedly renewed talks with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado about potential membership. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff accused the Big 12 of “trying to destabilize our remaining conference.”
The Arizona men’s swimming and diving squad finished 4th out of six teams at February’s Pac-12 Championships while the women placed 6th out of eight teams. Colorado currently doesn’t sponsor swimming and diving.
The Big 12 will add BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF next season to bring its total number of members to 14. The 2023-24 season will be the last with Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 after the powerhouse programs negotiated an early exit to the SEC in 2024.
The Pac-12 is still reeling from USC and UCLA’s decision last summer to bolt for the Big Ten in 2024. The Big Ten might not be done yet, either, with Oregon and Washington in talks with the conference about a potential merger.
Last month, the conference realignment wheels began turning again as eight ACC schools — Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Louisville — were reported to have been meeting with lawyers over the past several months to examine how unbreakable their Grant of Rights is.
Nobody left in the Big 12 other than WV and TCU has men’s swimming So the Texas invite (Big12 Championship meet) of the last few years will become a tri-meet for three mid-level programs. Women’s swimming also has Kansas and Iowa State – but that’s it. Kind of a nothing to see here conference swimming-wise. Colorado has good club teams I think fwiw.
A really good club team at CU.
BYU and Cincinnati have men’s and women’s teams and Houston has a women’s team. On the women’s side, Iowa State, Kansas, Cincinnati, Houston, BYU, TCU and WVU are all similar caliber, so that will make for a competitive conference meet. If Arizona joins, it will likely be a race for second.
If Stanford doesn’t get picked up pretty soon they will be like Yale. We’ll talk about how they won a bunch of National Titles “back in the day” and the next generation will get those questions wrong when they show up on Jeopardy
Swaim has ZERO credibility.
Idea: just merge the two and call it “The Big PAC 12”
snow hmmmmm
The Pac12 is clearly falling apart. With other northern schools like Washington eyeing the Big10, it can’t be long until the ASU and Utah cards start to tilt toward the Big12 also.
Last fall when the rumblings of these two school talking to the Big12 started, the obvious second discussion was that the UC schools and Stanford were not seeming to be paying attention to their conference falling apart.
Curious to if there is any news for what’s going to happen to USC/ULCA/Cal and Stanford?
UCLA and USC are already joining the Big10 next year right?
Yes
Fall 2024.
But why jump now? The BIG-12 has shown their cards and everyone knows they will take these teams at anytime. Why not wait until you see what the PAC-12 TV contract numbers are like. If they are good and UO and UW sign the grant of rights stick with the PAC-12. Even if the annual take not as much as the BIG-12, they will still make more because they will not have to be sending teams to West Virginia, Florida, Ohio.
The Big 12 will have a football viewing audience that actually will be pretty huge, more so if they add AZ and CO. They will go from coast to (almost) coast and will be in quite a few major TV markets. Hard to see how the PAC12 contract that will be just California will be able to match it.
The Big 12 would be in Florida, Ohio, Utah, WV, Okla, Texas, Ariz, Kansas and Iowa.
Be fun if they could grab San Diego State and be coast to coast.
What a mess this is becoming. D-1 college athletics is changing so fast it’s hard to fathom and I don’t like it!
Colorado coming back to the Big 12?. One of the original Big 8 conference schools that formed the Big 12 back in 1996.
And then threatened to leave with Texas to the Pac 10 – before ultimately leaving for the Pac 10 with wah wah….Utah