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With Friday’s momentous announcement that BYU will join the Big 12 in 2023, the focus is on football.
But this decision includes and will have an impact on almost all the sports played by the Cougars.
Houston, Cincinnati and UCF will also join the Big 12.
One of BYU’s programs that will benefit the most from the move is men’s basketball, as it will be part of one of the country’s elite conferences featuring defending national champion Baylor, the traditional powerhouse of the Kansas, as well as Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Houston. .
“This decision is historic for our program and it is historic for our opportunity and it is historic for our players to have this chance. It’s the best conference in the country, and it’s improving, ”said coach Mark Pope. “You think about it. You lose two great programs in Texas and Oklahoma, which have only made one final AP Top 25 appearance in the past two years – once in Texas. Whereas if you just took Houston and BYU, both teams have made the Top 25 AP final two years in a row. Houston was in the Final Four last year. It’s terrifying to think that the conference is going to get tough. But we’re really excited about it.
“It’s the best league in the country in basketball, especially what it’s becoming when it comes to additions,” Pope added. “It’s not getting any better. This is where you want to be. It’s great, super humiliating. It will be an incredible challenge. We are incredibly excited about this.
BYU will participate in all Big 12 sponsored sports except horseback riding, rowing and wrestling. The Big 12 sponsors all sports in which the Cougars participate, except men’s volleyball. All sports will begin Big 12 schedules in 2023-24, with the exception of men’s volleyball, which will continue to compete in the MPSF.
These are 18 inter-varsity sports that BYU is sponsoring to join the Big 12.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby looks forward to what BYU’s sports department will bring to the league.
“We will be arguably the best basketball conference in the country,” he said. “We will be a force to be reckoned with in a wide variety of Olympic sports. “
In terms of planning, recruiting, and exposure, BYU teams should get a big boost from Big 12 membership.
And, yes, that will be a major test for many BYU programs.
“Big 12 baseball is one of the top three conferences in the country. When I first heard of this I was excited. Then I was really terrified. Because it’s like, ‘pass the time,’ ”Cougars baseball coach Mike Littlewood said. “Every time you step on the pitch, it doesn’t matter who you play, you’re going to be playing against a good team with a bunch of future big leagues. It’s time to step up and take a leap. I am delighted.
BYU appears to be well positioned for the transition to the Big 12. The Cougars have just had their best overall sporting season since 2001-02, finishing 17th in the 2020-21 Director’s Cup standings.
This includes a National Women’s Cross Country Title, a National Finalist for Men’s Volleyball, multiple NCAA titles for BYU long-distance runners, multiple West Coast Conference Championships, appearances in NCAA basketball tournaments and an 11th place in football.
While football competed as an independent, most of BYU’s other sports competed in the WCC. This affiliation will end in 2023.
“We understand BYU’s decision and wish everyone connected with the institution the best for the future,” WCC commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement on Friday. “BYU has been transparent in exploring opportunities to find league affiliation for its football program and has been offered an opportunity that fits its needs. We will continue to value them as a member of the West Coast. Conference throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.
“The WCC has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent years with several NCAA Championships, and BYU has been a big part of those accomplishments. The success of the COE student-athletes and their ability to win national titles place the Conference in a very strong position in the college athletics landscape. The WCC continues to generate interest from members and will deliberately and thoroughly assess our best way forward to position the Conference for continued success.
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe and chairman Kevin J Worthen expressed gratitude to the WCC for their partnership, which began in 2011 just as the football program was going independent.
There has been talk over the years about whether BYU could join a Power Five conference as the Big 12 in football only.
“It’s nothing that really materialized. I am happy. I love the fact that we get to get into the Big 12 with all of our teams. The WCC saved us, ”said Holmoe. “We weren’t going to be able to make independence back then, but they had enough sports where our teams could play. It wasn’t much for some of our teams when we went to CMC because they weren’t sponsoring those sports. Some of our sports have had a real challenge to be independent in these sports or in various conferences. To feel like you are one now is wonderful. ”
For years, the Sunday gambling problem – by policy, BYU refuses to compete on Sunday – has been seen as a barrier preventing the Cougars from entering a Power Five conference.
Several matches of the Big 12 sports program on Sunday. But the league will make concessions to make room for BYU.
“I wouldn’t call it a concern, I would call it a consideration. We have had very open and frank conversations about this. Everyone’s eyes are wide open, ”Bowlsby said of the Sunday game problem. “We understand that there are planning considerations that are going to have to be taken into account. Like all members, some are in remote locations, some have more difficult transportation issues than others. Some are further away. These are all things you think of when you consider institutions, even when you work together in your league. It’s something that’s built in when you think of a university like BYU. We will do what is necessary to meet and honor these requirements. We got to the point where we didn’t feel like this was going to be a problem anymore. We probably won’t play soccer games on Sunday. We have events right now that are contested on Sunday. They will need to be changed to accommodate BYU. We are ready to do it. Frankly, BYU is an attractive enough institution that I consider it a very small consolation to have them in our organization.
Women’s soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood, whose team has been involved in a very difficult WCC soccer league for years, is ready for this new challenge.
“Our expectations are always to go and win a conference championship,” said Rockwood. “We have the opportunity again to participate in a conference tournament, which the CMC did not have. I would expect our program to be at the same level, if not better than in the past. “
Rockwood added that being a member of the Big 12 will help recruiting efforts.
“For us, our main goal is to recruit the best LDS children across the country,” she said. “We had the chance to do it. We have a great recruiting line for newcomers. If anything else, it gives us more visibility and more opportunities to maybe have more different people interested in our program.
Littlewood said their baseball program now has the infrastructure in place to compete in the Big 12.
“I would love to take the team we have this year to the Big 12. In 2019 it was the No. 16 recruiting class,” he said. “We are very experienced and very talented. This will open up recruitment. Not that we’re going to try to have a totally different guy because the guys we have now can compete at that level. But you need those elite 6-8-10 guys in the country. I think it opens it, having that P5 buffer opens it. With the culture here and our facilities – with our new scoreboard, it’s a Big 12 stadium. It really is. “
In two years, 18 BYU sports will carry the P5 seal – and they will find a new home in the Big 12.
“We have always said that decisions about where we play, who we play and which conference we compete in are first and foremost about student-athletes and how we can help them achieve excellence,” said Holmoe. “Competing on the Big 12 stage offers more opportunities for our student-athletes. That’s the whole story. “
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