Arizona State, Utah join Big 12 after conference vote

The Arizona State Sun Devils are set to join rival Arizona in moving to the Big-12, effective next season.

The Big-12 presidents and chancellors group met Friday evening and unanimously voted to admit ASU as well as Utah, which along with ASU applied for membership when a last-ditch effort to salvage the Pac-12 failed.

The news, which officially was announced by Arizona State and the Big 12 on social media platforms, will end quite a run in the conference for ASU, which has been part of the Pac-12 since 1978.

"We are excited for this new chapter, a move that is necessary to remain competitive in top-tier Division 1 athletics," said ASU President Michael Crow, a school press release. "We are joining a premier athletic conference and bringing with us programs on the rise, our rich traditions and history, and the metro Phoenix media market. We're in a good spot, and we are pleased to be with UArizona and Utah in the move."

End of an era: Arizona, Arizona State leave Pac-12 Conference for Big 12

It won't necessarily be that dramatic of a shift for Utah, which only joined the Pac-12 in 2011, along with Colorado. Utah had previously been a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Utah Board of Trustees voted Friday night to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big 12.

Crow and Athletic Director Ray Anderson have been staunch supporters of the conference but the failure of the conference to land a media rights deal hastened their departure, as well as its fellow schools.

"The financial package is strong. The stability of the Big 12 is strong. We are ready, and the timing is right," Anderson aid. "The exposure and visibility as well as the resources from the conference will help us compete for championships. From enhancing our ability to recruit Texas for football to the Big 12's strength in basketball, good days are ahead."

The news on ASU comes one day after rival Arizona got its approval for the same move.

"We share a deep sense of pride in the University of Arizona, with its national presence and championship legacy that resonates throughout college athletics, and I look forward to his continued leadership in the years to come," Arizona President Robert Robbins said in a released statement. "Our move to the Big 12 Conference will continue to raise the university's profile by increasing visibility, growing our reach across the country and around the globe, expanding our pool of prospective students, providing more resources to support our student-athletes, and presenting them with greater NIL prospects. We look forward to beginning a new era next year with fresh opportunities for athletics to fulfill its Wildcat Way mission to develop academic, athletic and life champions.

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ASU, Utah apply for Big 12 membership

It now seems to be just a matter of time before the Pac-12 Conference as we know it is no more.

According to reports on Friday afternoon, Arizona State and Utah have applied for membership to the Big 12 Conference, and the conference's leadership is scheduled to discuss their possible inclusion.

ESPN's Pete Thamel, who tweeted those developments Friday, also wrote that sources tell him Arizona applied and was approved Thursday by the Big 12's presidents and chancellors.

If all of this plays out as reported, and ASU and Utah are accepted, the Pac-12 will be down to just six schools — and possibly just four if Oregon and Washington accept a reported invitation to become members of the Big Ten, joining USC and UCLA.

The four remaining Pac-12 schools not currently linked to conference realignment reports are California, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.

Last-minute meeting proves futile, leaving Pac-12 survival in doubt

A last-minute Hail Mary does not appear to have worked for the Pac-12.

Thursday night ended with Arizona seemingly signed, sealed and delivered to the Big 12, making for the second exit from the conference in the last week with Colorado having done so already. The Arizona Board of Regents convened to discuss the situation involving Arizona and Arizona State but it did so in executive session, behind closed doors. No formal vote or action was taken, however.

The Pac-12 scheduled a meeting Friday morning during which commissioner George Kliavkoff gave an update on the media rights deal, hoping to get the schools to sign a grant of rights that serves two purposes, to generate revenue for the member schools and it binds the schools to media rights deal which then makes it difficult for schools to leave.

But that did not materialize.

Big 12 expansion: Arizona State's Michael Crow must humble himself, fight for Pac-12 exit

Arizona State President Michael Crow has been a key proponent of keeping the conference intact and, along with athletic director Ray Anderson, rebuffed any overtures the Big 12 has made in trying to add to its conference but the turn of events with Colorado leaving had the ASU administrators seriously considering it.

Both Arizona and ASU have been members of the Pac-12 since 1978.

While ASU appears to be dragging its feet, the school likely will not have much of a choice as there are reports that Oregon and Washington are indeed headed to the Big Ten. Their departures seemed like a done deal Thursday night but there was some debate on what share of the Big Ten media rights deal those schools would receive and whether would it compensate for what will be significantly increased travel costs.

But it took just a few hours for those details to be worked out and invitations to the Pacific Northwest schools extended.

The fate of the Pac-12 has been hanging in the balance the last year after its marquee brands UCLA and USC announced in July of 2022 they intended on leaving the conference in favor of the Big Ten, the pivotal tipping point being the payout that comes with a media rights deal, something the Pac-12 has yet to secure.

The deal Kliavkoff shared with the Pac-12 members would be $20 million a year with games available only on Apple TV, leaving it with no content on a major sports network.

Colorado's defection accelerated talks of Arizona and ASU possibly leaving too although Arizona had started that ball rolling well ahead of ASU.

Related: Big 12 expansion or Pac-12 survival for Arizona Wildcats? Conflicting reports swirl

The Big 12 has been vocal about wanting to expand with the targets being the so-calls "Four Corner Schools" in Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah. The common thought all along has been that those four would move as a block.

Schools seemingly left without options are Oregon State, Washington State, California and Stanford.

There was some talk that Cal and Stanford could also go to the Big Ten if it were to expand by four schools but that talk has subsided with the Big Ten content in adding the Pacific Northwest schools.

The Big 12 had been aggressive in exploring expansion options since losing its top names to the SEC in Texas and Oklahoma, with that move taking place next season. It had already added Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston and Brigham Young for this season, giving it 14 teams.

Who's to blame? Larry Scott, Pac-12 executive board started the downfall of the once-proud conference

Should the Big 12 add the Four Corners Schools, it will literally have a national footprint with schools from nine states, ranging as far east as West Virginia and as far west as Arizona. The teams are in three different time zones.

First-year ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham has been asked twice in the last week about expansion and the Pac-12 situation and he declined to address the matter directly, saying his only concern was getting his team ready for the season.

Read more: Who is in the Big 12? And why are Pac-12 schools leaving for it? Your questions answered

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State and Utah membership in the Big 12 is accepted