Most Exciting New Big 12 Member - BWR Roundtable: 23 Days

The Big 12 is welcoming four more new members in 2024. Which one has our staff the most excited?

Realignment waits for nothing, and even though the Kansas Jayhawks are in the middle of preseason camp, the Big 12 added four new members for the 2024 season in the last couple of weeks.

So that got us thinking: With so many new options that are all varying levels of excited to be here, which one has YOU the most excited? We posed that question to our staff here at BWR, and we got a lot of different responses.

Previous editions of the Roundtable have covered a variety of topics. Our first article talked about carrying lessons forward from 2022. Then we looked ahead to the upcoming schedule. We asked about the threshold of guaranteed success that would be needed to lock it in. And last time, we asked some important questions surrounding the team heading into camp.

Which new member joining the Big 12 in 2024 has you the most excited?

Derek Noll: Arizona. It was initially cool to see old friend Colorado rejoin the league, but for some reason, they don’t get me as excited as Arizona. I’m probably (definitely) thinking more about basketball than I am football, but the idea of an annual Kansas/Arizona matchup gets me excited. This is the team that inflicted the most pain many of us have ever experienced as fans when they famously beat a one loss (and final four or championship shoo-in according to many people) Kansas in the 1997 NCAA tournament. I know that the Wildcats are not as formidable as they once were, have played in a weak PAC-12, will finally get tested every week by the Big XII schedule, but they are the most nationally recognized program (in men’s basketball and football anyway) of any of the newest additions to the league.

Kyle Davis: Arizona, especially from a basketball standpoint, it’s going to be fun to have in the Big 12, but I’m actually going with Colorado. I’m not much of a “back in my day things were better” guy, but in this time of chaos and schools joining conferences thousands of miles away (Hawaii to the ACC?), it’s nice to have a familiar face come back to its home where it had much more success.

There’s history with Colorado, we get Allen Fieldhouse West back, and Boulder is a fantastic city that’s closest out of the four, which will make it a great road-game destination.

Brendan Dzwierzynski: I’ve got different answers depending on what lens I’m viewing the question through. For how it pertains to KU, I’m going with Colorado. I know the basketball matchups with Arizona are going to be must-see TV, but I love the history and tradition of college sports and Colorado belongs in this conference and belongs in matchups with the old Big 8 schools. We’ve lost too much of that in the last decade-plus, so I’m excited to see the long-time rivals duel again.

Regarding the overall impact on the Big 12, though, my answer is Utah and I think it’s pretty easily Utah because of the quality of football they bring aboard. Again, I totally get siding with Arizona and its basketball prowess here, but the Utes have been such a strong, stalwart program for years under Kyle Whittingham and I’m pumped to see them against the rest of the conference. I’m not going to complain about more quality football.

Andy Mitts: I was tempted to say Utah, just because it is someone new to hate with a Texas-like passion, but I’m going to agree with Kyle here. Colorado. I’ve always had a bit of a soft-spot for the Buffs, especially since they were my second choice behind Kansas when I was looking for a school. But more than that, they are a team that is super excited to be in the Big 12, there is already history there, and with Denver right by there, it’s really easy to see it being a destination for Big 12 fans. Arizona would be a somewhat close second, but that’s mainly because I’m hoping for some epic basketball games between the two teams.

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