SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah will soon be switching a "Pac" for a "Big" to place in front of the No. 12 as the conference merry-go-round spins faster and faster.
The university's Board of Trustees held a special meeting Friday to discuss the potential move to the Big 12 Conference next year. In the meeting, Chairman Christian Gardner read a resolution on behalf of the board that said the conference had extended an invitation to the U of U to join.
The board's recommendation letter authorized U of U President Taylor Randall to accept the invitation. Randall, as well as athletic director Mark Harlan, were in "concurrence" with the resolution.
Randall later provided a statement, officially confirming that the school will join the Big 12. The change will take place starting in the 2024-2025 athletics season.
"I am grateful for all of the hard work my Pac-12 Conference colleagues invested in an effort to find solutions to keep the conference whole and provide a pathway forward to benefit all of our students, fans and communities," Randall said. "Ultimately, stronger forces within national collegiate athletics and the greater media landscape brought us to today’s decision. I am hopeful the relationships we have made over the past 12 years within the Pac-12 remain strong."
The official transcript from Utah’s Board of Trustees meeting, accepting the Big 12’s invitation. pic.twitter.com/BEzttdvW3z
— Andrea Urban (@AndreaUrbanTV) August 5, 2023
In this surprising turn of events, Utah's move to the Big 12 will set up an unexpected reunion with arch-rival BYU who became a conference member earlier this year.
The Big 12 also announced Friday night that it will add Arizona and Arizona State to the conference.
Prior to this announcement, conversations between Utah and the Big 12 Conference had reportedly "ramped up" following several moves that are leaving the Pac-12 Conference a shell of itself. That coincided with a report from Brett McMurphy, a longtime college football insider with Action Network, who said Utah was "showing interest" in the Big 12.
Earlier Friday, Oregon and Washington officially joined the Big Ten Conference after receiving invitations.
The news of the impending departures of the two Pac-12 powerhouses, along with Utah's interest in making a move, comes just hours after ESPN reported that Arizona had already applied to and been admitted to the Big 12.
With Colorado ditching the Pac-12 and accepting a Big 12 invite last week, the conference could grow to as many as 16 schools whenever Arizona, Utah and Arizona State make a jump. Meanwhile, the defections, along with also losing USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, will leave the Pac-12 with just 4 teams: Stanford, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State.
