Three more Pac-12 schools join CU Buffs in moving to Big 12
Aug 4, 2023, 11:24 PM
The Colorado Buffaloes won’t be alone in ditching the Pac-12 for the Big 12, as Arizona, Arizona State and Utah each announced they would also be making the move next season late on Friday night.
The follow-up moves come as a reaction to Oregon and Washington leaving for the Big Ten. Now the Pac-12 after this season will be down to just four, California, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State. The Big Ten will have four west coast schools as this conference shifting from the traditional coastline of these schools started last year when UCLA and USC announced moves to the Big Ten. That conference will now be at 18 schools, while the Big 12 which is at 14 this year will be at 16 next year after they lose Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.
The good news for the Buffs here is that their new conference has instantly become a lot stronger as four power schools joining will be the first powers to come into the conference since the Southwest Conference fell apart in the 1990s and the Big 8 became the Big 12.
Colorado will get to keep their forced rivalry with the Utah Utes but more importantly, now two schools (Kansas and Kansas State) a six-hour drive east and two schools (counting BYU) are a six-hour drive west. Not to mention the Arizona schools which are a quick flight. This will make what was once a daunting-looking move from a travel preceptive a much easier pill to swallow. The Arizona schools also offer some more glitz to the Big 12 which is mainly filled with schools from smaller cities mostly in the midwest.
The Buffaloes have also had some nice clashes with the Wildcats, especially on the hardwood so that will stay alive. But what the scheduling for basketball and other sports looks like verse football will be interesting. Will there be regional divisions or something completely new?
There are a lot of questions right now but at least the Buffs were on the first lifeboat off the Pac-12’s sinking ship whereas the Golden Bears, Beavers, Cardinal and Cougars have to be freaking out. Maybe Stanford can catch on with the Big Ten if they take Notre Dame, but the others may end up in a non-power conference like the Mountain West.
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