Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — As the start of another year draws near, 2023 will go down as one of the most memorable in local sports history.
In terms of blockbuster news, few 12-month periods can compete with the related major stories that occurred this year. The upheaval that rocked the college sports world made a significant impact on the state Utah.
For this reason, the demise of our beloved Pac-12 athletic conference reigns supreme as this year's top story. The offshoots that it created ranks it right along with some of the significant news stories the state has ever witnessed.
The genesis of the story actually began 18 months ago, with the shocking revelation that USC and UCLA were bolting the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Over the next 12 months, athletic officials and university administrators went to great lengths to insist the suddenly beleaguered conference would continue to exist even without the two staples in the country's second-biggest media market.
"I feel real good about where we're at. It's disappointing still to have them go but it's time to move on," Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said during an interview on The Zone last December. "I know we're prepared to move on, and the rest of the institutions are prepared to move on, and there's some great institutions."
Sadly, several months later, those great institutions scattered across the country, a collective decision that killed more than 100 years of legacy in the western portion of the United States. As negotiations for new television contracts dragged for seemingly months on end, any form of unification crashed as the remaining universities began separating from each other.
In the span of a week in August, Washington and Oregon secured coveted spots in the Big Ten. Utah, Arizona and Arizona State followed Colorado, which left the Pac-12 about a week earlier, into the Big 12.
In time, facing desperate measures, Stanford and Cal blew off all sense of geography to join the Atlantic Athletic Conference. Essentially left without a conference, Oregon State and Washington State have entered into scheduling agreement with the Mountain West in football.
One of the champions of keeping the conference together, along with potentially adding new members, Utah administrators were forced to vacate a place that had become home. For all involved, the Utes loved their associations with the Pac-12, but reality dictated the reluctant move to the Big 12.
"All this is about is money, you know that," Colorado coach Deion Sanders told reporters when the conference imploded. "It's about a bag; everybody's chasing a bag."
In a mere 13 years, the golden ticket that was the invitation to trade in the Mountain West for the far more glamorous locations of the new conference were gone. For the Utah faithful, no more trips to Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Pacific Northwest and the desert southwest flat-out stinks.
In their places, the new destinations include Ames, Iowa; Lubbock, Texas; and Waco, Texas; along with such far-flung locations as West Virginia and central Florida. Make your travel plans early.
Another reason the summer of 2023 will go down in history is due to the reunion of Utah and BYU as conference teammates. Reunited and it feels so good.
The Cougars, left behind when the Pac-12 came calling for the Utes, needed a conference affiliation to provide greater purpose to each season. Two years ago, the Big 12 rescued BYU from the throes of being an independent in football and provided the lifeline of a Power Five conference.
Immediately, the literal second Utah's administration was forced to change addresses, the Big 12 had its best rivalry. Pitting the two Utah football teams against each other next Thanksgiving weekend provides the Big 12 a level of identity it didn't otherwise enjoy, as it does for the same reason with Arizona and Arizona State.
Among all the madness, at least there was some good news.
