So far, it’s been a bittersweet athletic season for the state’s major college programs. Both Arizona and Arizona State are looking ahead to the 2024-25 sports season, when they will be members of the Big 12 after competing in the Pac-12, where they have resided since 1978 (when it was a Pac-10). . Colorado and Utah.
This is all part of the changing landscape of college athletics with one of the most notable developments being new conference alignments.
ASU has won three conference football titles before leaving the Pac-12, its most recent title coming in 2007 when it shared honors with USC. Other titles were won in 1986 and 1996, a season highlighted by an appearance in the Rose Bowl.
The fact that this is the last year of Pac-12 football as we know it is a bit ironic considering the success of the soon-to-be-defunct conference this season. This season, nine of the 12 teams were ranked, and there were weeks when six teams were ranked at once.
Washington qualified for the College Football Playoff, defeating favorite Oregon in the conference title game. Two of his quarterbacks in the Pac-12 were finalists for the Heisman Trophy, and throughout the conference they were the best group of signal callers the Pac-12 has seen in recent memory.
ASU football outlook
ASU left the conference shortly after going 3-9, but was energized by Kenny Dillingham, who is in his second year as head coach. At 33 years old, he is the youngest head coach at an FBS school.
Although they didn’t win many games last season, the Sun Devils accomplished some notable things. Their last win came against UCLA, likely their last game at the prestigious Rose Bowl venue. They pushed a still undefeated Washington team to the brink, losing 15-7 to the Huskies in Seattle without allowing an offensive touchdown. The Sun Devils were within one score of perennial powerhouse USC until six minutes left in the fourth quarter. So even though it was a season filled with injuries, there were some moments of growth.
With Texas’ most successful brand headed to the SEC this season along with perennial title contender Oklahoma State, it’s reasonable to think ASU can compete at a high level in the Big 12. Only two of his current Big 12 schools that will be in the conference next year made it into his latest CFP rankings. Still, they are one of the last few teams left, with Oklahoma State and Kansas State at No. 20 and No. 25, respectively.
However, basketball is a different story. The Big 12 is a powerhouse for men’s teams and will only get stronger with the addition of new teams, especially Arizona. The Sun Devils have made the postseason three times in the past five years, but have hovered around the middle of the pack in the Pac-12.
What ASU basketball will look like in the Big 12
The Sun Devils will need to step up their game to compete in that conference, something coach Bobby Hurley has hinted at for some time. It will be up to the new athletic director to get the Sun Devils the additional resources they need to compete in the Big 12, which includes Kansas, Baylor and Houston.
The Sun Devils may not look like they’re ready to take on a team like that, but there were moments that showed otherwise. They boast two historic wins over Kansas State. The first was in 2017 against the second-ranked Jayhawks, a 95-85 win over Kansas, and the following season, an 80-76 win over first-ranked Kansas in Tempe.
On the women’s side, the Pac-12 has traditionally been one of the best conferences in basketball, and over the past two years ASU has gone a dismal 20-34 overall and 5-23 in Pac-12 play. I have collected it. So this is one of her scenarios where this move would be advantageous for the Sun Devils.
It remains to be seen what will happen to the so-called Olympic sports. The Big 12 plans to add women’s lacrosse and beach volleyball in 2024. Both are sports in which ASU already has a team.
The Pac-12 has traditionally been strong in Olympic sports such as gymnastics, water polo and track and field. Before his departure, former athletic director Ray Anderson said he wanted to keep schools like USC and UCLA on the schedule, even if they were aiming to make the Big Ten. It makes sense both from a competitive and geographic perspective.
But a sport that has the potential to flourish even more is wrestling. Wrestling is the dominant sport in the Big 12, although only a few schools field teams in the Pac-12. He will be ASU Wrestling who will benefit most from this move.
In other sports, such as golf or ice hockey, this movement is largely irrelevant. Golf runs a schedule of tournaments. The men’s hockey team will be a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2024-25 season.
It will be interesting to see how the added movement works. You’ll have easy access to destinations like Los Angeles and California’s Bay Area, with plenty of nonstop flights to Seattle and Portland, Oregon, and convenient access to Waco, Texas, and Manhattan, Kansas. It’s not that easy. And next year’s Big 12 will stretch from Arizona in the west to West Virginia in the east and central Florida in the south. Details of the schedule have not yet been revealed.