Big 12 votes to add Arizona, Arizona State, Utah in realignment move; Pac-12 responds

More history was made on Friday as the Big 12 voted to add three Pac-12 schools in another major college football realignment move

In what will be known as Black Friday in the annals of what was once the Pac-12 Conference, three former members — Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah — will become members of the Big 12 starting in the 2024 college football season as yet another realignment move once again re-writes the sport's national map.

"We are thrilled to welcome Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah to the Big 12," commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement. 

"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."

The addition of the schools brings the Big 12 to 16 members starting next season after the conference also added outgoing Pac-12 member Colorado to its rotation.

The plan brings to startling fruition the designs on expansion that Yormark laid out this offseason, realizing his desire to have members in all four time zones, and confirms longstanding rumors that the Big 12 was scouting the Four Corners schools in an effort to move westward into Pac-12 territory to recoup from the loss of Texas and Oklahoma, which will leave the conference for the SEC next summer.

Friday also saw Pac-12 stalwarts Oregon and Washington announce that they, too, will leave the conference, joining the Big Ten after a unanimous vote starting in 2024, bringing the 108-year-old West Coast league to just four remaining members: Oregon State, Washington State, Cal, and Stanford.

"Today's news is incredibly disappointing for student-athletes, fans, alumni, and staff of the Pac-12 who cherish the over 100-year history, tradition, and rivalries of the Conference of Champions," the Pac-12 said in a statement. "We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities."

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