While joining the Big 12 looks great for the University of Utah, especially with the Pac-12’s future full of uncertainty, this move brings in a lot of complications.
Conference realignment isn’t as straightforward as it often seems. Conferences have media rights deals dictating which channel has the rights to broadcast their games. These deals can have a large impact on schools, with deals typically reaching hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The Big 12 reached a six-year extension with ESPN and Fox Sports last year, worth $2.3 billion.
With the Pac-12 down to just four teams now, they are either forced to accept new teams such as Boise State and San Diego State or dissolve the conference entirely.
If Utah had stayed and the Pac-12 brought in new schools, Utah’s athletics programs would have easier schedules and likely win more. But easy schedules make it tough to receive high rankings, and the Utes would likely sit lower than schools with the same record but tougher conferences.
A move would have been forced if Utah stayed and the Pac-12 dissolved. With more teams trying to join the Big Ten and Big 12, there would be a higher risk that Utah wouldn’t be accepted, and would have to make their return to the Mountain West or go independent.
With this move seeming like the best opportunity, both for the school and the athletics program, there are still some who oppose it. Utah and BYU are now the furthest schools from the rest of the conference, with schools such as UCF, Cincinnati and Texas.
Most of the Big 12 occupies the Southern and Midwest United States. This includes schools such as Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas.
But fans, particularly football fans, have good reason to be excited about the move. Utah joins their in-state rivals, the BYU Cougars. The rivalry, commonly referred to as the “Holy War” is one of the best rivalries in college football.
With BYU joining the Big 12 last year, and playing their first season this year, many fans were left wondering if this rivalry game would continue to happen. With very few out-of-conference games, scheduling the game could become near-impossible. Now that both are in the same conference for the first time, the rivalry shows no signs of slowing down.
However, the impact on athletes is often thrown out the window. Being so far from the rest of the conference has some major downsides, including plenty of travel for athletes. Some sports such as football won’t feel the full effect, but others like baseball and softball will see a major change.
Baseball and softball frequently see double-headers, multiple games played on the same day. And after increased travel times, this can have adverse effects on athletes’ physical and mental health. Not to mention, balancing academics with it.
Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz said, “Traveling in those baseball, softball games, those people, they travel commercial, they get done playing, they gotta go to the airport, they come back, it’s 3 or 4 in the morning, they gotta go to class. I mean, did we ask any of them?”
With such a negative impact on many student-athletes, one is left to wonder if this is the best move for the schools, or if the moves are all about securing more money from media rights deals.
