Pete Thamel recounts what things looked like for Arizona, Arizona State and Utah leading up to Big 12 move
College football was tilted on its axis after Friday’s mass exodus from most of the remaining teams in the Pac-12. Oregon and Washington are headed to the Big Ten, while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are Big 12-bound.
ESPN senior analyst Pete Thamel recalled what the past two days have been like behind the scenes for the Arizona schools and Utah in their attempt to break away from the Pac-12. It wasn’t always a done deal, but in the end — the Pac-12’s uncertainty was what made those schools turn elsewhere.
“For these three schools, it’s been a fascinating chess match. Arizona, Thursday night actually was voted into the Big 12, but the final steps of that were gummed up because of an Arizona Board of Regents meeting,” Thamel said on SportsCenter Friday night. “Arizona State President Michael Crow, who’s been there I believe since 2002, did not want to leave the Pac-12. He’s a staunch Pac-12 guy.
“He propped up and supported Larry Scott, the former commissioner who led the Pac-12 down his wayward path for way too long. And he, at the Board of Regents meeting, got in the way of progress, and that was one of the seeds of doubt of whether any of this realignment was going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Oregon and Washington took liberties into their own hands and will now join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten after this season. If that didn’t happen — Arizona, Arizona State and Utah would likely be at the table with Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff’s trying to salvage what is left of the Pac-12.
“Oregon and Washington were playing footsies with the Big Ten, obviously. But [Michael] Crow’s petulance in that meeting was an obstacle,” Thamel said. “Obviously, everything changed for the league when Oregon and Washington blew up the morning meeting, went a few hours later to the Big Ten.
“And now, all of a sudden, there were calls with Utah and the Big 12 and there were calls with Arizona State and the Big 12. And by late dinner time, there had been a CEOs meeting where they let them both in after they both applied. So a wild day for the Big 12, which is now the Big 16.”
Four teams remain in the Pac-12 after this season: Washington State, Cal, Oregon State and Stanford. A merger with the Mountain West Conference is the first option that comes to mind in an attempt to salvage the conference. If not, the Pac-12 could cease to exist at all in the coming years.
Whichever program is the last one out, please turn off the lights behind you.