No, Utah, You Didn’t Save the Big 12

HOW WE GOT HERE

After Oklahoma and Texas announced their plans to join the SEC, the league officially entered the new decade with Bob Bowlsby handing off the conference commissioner title to Brett Yormark with the goal of recreating the brand. The former engineered the package of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF beginning with the 2023-24 school year. Shortly after, the conference completed its Southwest stake adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12 of old.

There’s an uncomfortable level of chatter around the Big Ten adopting Utah after just two years as a member of the Big 12, and some of the logic presented online is incredibly flawed. These days, you’ve gotta check more boxes outside of academics, and the Utes aren’t exactly in a position to make such a move.

In football and men’s basketball, the league is asserting itself within the Power Four with back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff (Arizona State 2024, Texas Tech 2025) and the NCAA Men’s Final Four (Houston 2024, Arizona 2025). The conference just set an all-time record with 13 selections in the latest NBA Draft, and is quickly asserting itself as the best league on the hardwood as the league’s current membership enters its third school year together.

Utah’s checked none of those boxes during its brief time in the Big 12, and outside of the 2025 football season hasn’t competed directly in much other than gymnastics, where the school has back-to-back Big 12 titles (credit where credits due). But the coach responsible for that 10-win football season is now at Michigan along with much of your coaching staff. The 2024 BYU loss marked the first time Utah AD Mark Harland publicly criticized the Big 12 and the school’s position, and the fandom has seemingly soured on the conference ever since.

IS THE GRASS GREENER IN THE BIG TEN?

A former Big 12 member, Nebraska, left the conference over a decade ago for the Big Ten. Nebraska and Utah are comparable not just in athletics status, but as large public research universities eager to remain in Power Four conferences, specifically in football. Utah should want to stay in the Big 12, and for all the reasons Nebraska is suffering the Big Ten.

Nebraska, even with the latest arguments for Matt Rhule, hasn’t exactly opened the doors since firing Scott Frost. They’ve put together some better football in recent seasons, and even have a $600 million rebuild coming in the future, but they’re still at the 6.5 win total rage for 2026 and enter the season without 2,000-yard passer Dylan Raiola, now at Oregon.

Holistically, the Big 12 is a strong seat for Utah in its current mold, which includes a favorable coach in Morgan Scalley, a guy who already has rapport with alumni and fans, and a working blueprint on how to win in a conference far more open than the Big Ten, which includes a heavy travel schedule from New Jersey to California.

Football, the leading revenue driver for a school like Utah, which just inked college sports’ first-ever private equity partnership, instantly becomes a steeper climb with USC, Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State – to name just a few – upending your scheduled with BYU and the Holy War, arguably the best rivalry in the Big 12, no longer available. Mind you, Utah’s loss that BYU game two years running and hasn’t won the matchup since 2019.

The Big Ten may favor Utah geographically, but it’s not the survival play.