Pete Thamel: Arizona in 'deep discussions' to join Big 12

The rumors have swirled about Arizona and the Big 12 for some time. Thursday night, a new report indicated how serious those talks have become.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Arizona is in “deep discussions” with the Big 12 to join the league. The report came down at approx. 6:45 p.m. MT, shortly before the Arizona Board of Regents was set to meet. Thamel noted “some finality is expected in the near future” with the meeting coming up.

On3’s Eric Prisbell has reported the Big 12’s interest in Arizona as it looks to get to 14 teams. Last week, Colorado announced its plans to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 and take the former down to nine teams. That takes the Big 12 to 13 teams in 2024, but commissioner Brett Yormark wanted to be aggressive and get the league back to 14.

This week was pivotal for Arizona’s future in the Pac-12. Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented a “primary streaming deal” with Apple to the nine remaining conference members that reportedly would net a roughly $20 million payout. That same day, the Arizona Board of Regents met for the first time and didn’t take any action regarding athletics.

Then, the board announced another meeting for Thursday at 6:05 p.m. MST featuring two items on the agenda. It calls for an immediate move to executive session, starting with “a review of assignments” for Arizona State president Michael Crow and Arizona president Robert Robbins. They will stay in executive session “for possible legal advice and discussion regarding university athletics.”

It’s worth noting the Arizona Board of Regents also oversees Arizona State. However, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger, conversations about the Sun Devils joining the Big 12 aren’t progressing as quickly. That said, ASU — along with Utah — remain viable options for the league.

The Big 12 is now closing in on a move to 14 teams after bringing back Colorado last week. Oklahoma and Texas are gearing up to leave for the SEC, and four teams — Cincinnati, BYU, Houston and UCF — are coming in this year. The two departures kicked off the latest round of realignment. USC and UCLA then announced they’d leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in late June 2022, taking the conference down to 10 teams.

Arizona president Robert Robbins remained steadfast he wanted to see what numbers the Pac-12 presented before talking about the university’s athletics future. He got those during Kliavkoff’s initial meeting Aug. 1 and saw the two Board of Regents meetings follow.