The rest of the "Four Corners" schools are heading to the Big 12. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will all join the Big 12 imminently, sources tell CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd and Matt Norlander. The Big 12's presidents unanimously voted to welcome Arizona into the league Thursday and did the same in a Friday night meeting for Arizona State and Utah.
The Wildcats became a "hard lean" toward the Big 12 on Thursday after days of conversations about whether to leave the conference they have known as home since 1978. The Sun Devils and Utes progressed in the same manner Friday. ASU also joined the Pac-12 in 1978, while Utah is the Pac-12's youngest member having entered the league in 2011.
The Pac-12 held a Friday call as a last-ditch effort to keep the league together but ultimately failed in achieving its goal.
The Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees both Arizona and Arizona State, met Thursday night but did not take formal action at that time for the Wildcats. Now, it is up to the board to formally approve the departure of both programs from the Pac-12. The Utah Board of Regents similarly must approve its venture into the Big 12.
Despite Arizona linking with the Big 12 before Arizona State, there was substantial sentiment within both athletic departments that a conference sever was both undesired and unlikely, sources told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander on Thursday. The Wildcats leaving Sun Devils behind in the Pac-12 would have been "extremely surprising," one high-ranking source said.
It appears that the Big 12 will now be moving to 16 members after commissioner Brett Yormark previously stated that it hoped to expand back to 14 members following the departures of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. Instead, it will balloon to its largest membership in conference history.
Where does the Pac-12 go from here?
The already murky future of the Pac-12 now hangs in the balance. Colorado, the fourth of those "Four Corners" schools, left the conference for the Big 12 last week prior to Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff delivering an underwhelming media rights presentation to university administrators from the league earlier this week. Those centered around a streaming contract with Apple that would have reportedly paid members around $20 million annually. The Apple-focused media rights package included tiers of incentivization with a significant upside for teams if certain subscription numbers were met, sources told Dodd.
The Big 12, which has long been focused on expanding with at least two -- if not all four -- of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, is paying its members nearly $32 million annually through its new media rights agreement with ESPN and Fox.
The Pac-12 lost Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten on Friday. Once Arizona, Arizona State and Utah depart, the league will be down to just four members: California, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State. Where conference realignment goes from there is anyone's guess.
Annual payouts in the Big Ten are even more lucrative at $60 million per school annually through an agreement with CBS, Fox and NBC. However, Oregon and Washington will only receive 50% of the annual share ($30 million with yearly $1 million escalators) after changing conferences, according to multiple reports.
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Arizona, Arizona State, Utah to Big 12? Programs expected to soon follow Colorado in leaving Pac-12 - CBS Sports
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