The Big 12 continues to add programs and secure its positioning surrounding conference expansion.
On Friday, the conference announced the Big 12 Board of Directors “voted unanimously” to admit Arizona State, Arizona and Utah to join the ranks of its schools.
The addition of the three programs will raise the number of schools in the Big 12 to 16 beginning in 2024.
“We are thrilled to welcome Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to the Big 12,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark stated in a release. “The Conference is gaining three premier institutions both academically and athletically, and the entire Big 12 looks forward to working alongside their presidents, athletic directors, student-athletes and administrators.”
Arizona State President Michael Crow stated that the move to the Big 12 “is necessary to remain competitive in top-tier Division I athletics.”
Arizona president Robert C. Robbins stated it “will continue to raise the university’s profile by increasing visibility, growing our reach across the country and around the globe, expanding our pool of prospective students, providing more resources to support our student-athletes, and presenting them with greater NIL prospects.”
On a similar note, Utah president Taylor Randall stated, “Ultimately, stronger forces within national collegiate athletics and the greater media landscape brought us” to the decision to join the Big 12.
Stability, finances, media rights and name, image and likeness positioning all served as factors that drove Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to join the Big 12. They’ll continue to serve as drivers of possibly further conference expansion around college athletics.
