Big 12 Officially Adds Arizona, Arizona State, Utah as Conference Grows to 16

The news comes on the heels of Oregon and Washington’s move to the Big Ten.

Just hours after Oregon and Washington officially joined UCLA and USC as future members of the Big Ten, the Pac-12 lost three additional members to the ever-expanding Big 12.

Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will all join the league along with conferencemate Colorado, ahead of the 2024 fall semester.

“We are thrilled to welcome Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to the Big 12,” said conference commissioner Brett Yormark in an official 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.”

Forde: How TV Money Killed the Pac-12

After losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, another move that will take effect in 2024, the Big 12 responded by adding BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to its remaining schools effective this year. Now, the four former Pac-12 members will join them in ’24.

Meanwhile, the Pac-12 is left with Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State as member schools. 

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, those schools have held meetings to discuss next steps. Among the logical options is to join with the Mountain West Conference, which Dellenger reports “the MWC is receptive to.” 

For now, the future of those programs remains unclear, but the historic Pac-12 Conference is all but dead.