Big 12 Is Open For Business… What Does It Mean For The Mountain West?
Media days are in full swing for the Big 12
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Big 12 wants to go big
Big 12 media days are underway and this is the first gathering of leagues since the bombshell that UCLA and USC were leaving to the Big Ten. Brett Yorkman is not even the official commissioner of the Big 12 and he came out hot and says everything is an option for the Big 12.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝟏𝟐 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 💥
📺 https://t.co/CvDUrgVUUr pic.twitter.com/APhm1hDhs4
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 13, 2022
“We are exploring all options and we’re open for business, and optionality is good, and we’re vetting through all of them,” said Yormark. “I think it’s fair to say I’ve received a lot of phone calls; a lot of interest. People understand the direction of the Big 12 and we’re exploring those levels of interest. Nothing is imminent, but we’re working hard to ensure that we position the Big 12 in the best possible way on a go-forward basis.”
These deals are more along the lines of the Big 12 looking West as there have been multiple reports saying they have interest in Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to join the Big 12.
Mountain West Football: Schedule Rotation Announced For 2023, 2024, And 2025 Seasons
The Pac-12 and Big 12 are going to be in a tug-of-war to see who will be next in line after the SEC and Big Ten. A lot of this hinges on Washington and Oregon stayin in the Pac-Whatever, but the new Big 12 is adding teams and losing Oklahoma and Texas sometime over the next few years.
As for the Mountain West, they probably are a backup plan for either league. The Big 12 may want to get another team out West to pair with BYU to not only have a travel partner but also another team in the Mountain or Pacific time zone.
If Yormark looks to the Mountain West as it is the same teams as usual from the past with Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, and Air Force as teams to consider.
The Big 12 likely would want to steal from the Pac-12 than rather settle for teams from the Mountain West. So, this is a good thing for the conference to stick together.
