What former Pac-12 schools can look forward to in the Big 12

With both Arizona State and Arizona making their home in the Pac-12 for the memorial past, little attention was probably paid to the neighboring Big 12.

With the rival Sun Devils and Wildcats moving to the Big 12, along with Utah and Colorado, beginning with the 2024-25 school year, it’s time to look at the positives. And there are many.

Let’s start with the teams who will be in the Big 12 — Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Baylor Bears, BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, Colorado Buffaloes, Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma State Cowboys, TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Tech Red Raiders, UCF Knights, Utah Utes and West Virginia Mountaineers.

What to look forward to in the Big 12

Quality wrestling: While men’s basketball is the premier sport in the conference, wrestling is another sport that will benefit greatly from the move. The Pac-12 only had three schools that field wrestling teams in ASU, Oregon State and Stanford, which meant it had to bring in “affiliate” members in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield.

True college atmospheres: Yes, there are some college towns in Eugene, Corvallis and Boulder. But there were a lot of conference schools that offered little in the way of uniqueness and true college atmospheres. Stanford and Cal were just blah. UCLA and USC are name brands but if they’re not winning, people don’t show up which is pretty much the same as the market in Tempe. Now we’re going to get Stillwater, Oklahoma, Waco and Lubbock, Texas, and Ames, Iowa. A lot of places with cool college environments. Places where that college is the only game in town.

New rivalries: Those are going to take some time to develop. They don’t happen in a year or two. It’s a matter of two teams at the top of the standings playing quality games against each…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/former-pac-12-schools-look-120124917.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2024-05-26 12:01:24

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.