On Friday, the University of Arizona will officially become a member of the Big 12 athletic conference after 45 years in the Pac-12. The U of A makes the move alongside Colorado, Utah and Arizona State, bringing the total number of conference members to 16. The transition means new competitors, new fan bases, new traditions and new destinations for Wildcats sports teams and their fans.
It also means a new look for some very prominent parts of campus. Last week, U of A Facilities Management crews cut out the two shield-shaped Pac-12 logos from the football field at Arizona Stadium and replaced them with the Big 12 logo. And a contractor finished painting the logo on the Lute and Bobbi Olson Court at McKale Memorial Center this week.
"The goal is to have all of the logos changed out before the semester starts at all the facilities used by our fall sports," said Nate Wiechers, interim communication director for Arizona Athletics.
Logo replacement projects at other Arizona Athletics facilities will take place throughout the year, before each sport begins competition.
Arizona fans will be able to shop for a variety of items commemorating the U of A's inaugural Big 12 season beginning Aug. 26, the first day of the fall semester. The newly remodeled Campus Store, formerly the University of Arizona BookStore, will offer a line of T-shirts and other collectables that feature the mascots and logos of each Big 12 university.
"We're trying to find unique items because we feel that's important," said Peter Neff, the store’s executive director. "It's a great change for Arizona Athletics, and we want to be a good partner and show our support of our teams. We hope it helps our fans feel proud of being in the Big 12."
In June, Desiree Reed-Francois, the university's director of athletics, told the Arizona Board of Regents that after working in college athletics for more than 25 years, "this is the most significant time of growth and change I've seen."
"Any time of transformation, there will be bumps in the road," she said. "But we're seeking to be the modern model of intercollegiate athletics: focused on the student-athlete, values-based and unapologetically high-performance."
As the university prepares to make the move to the Big 12, here are 12 fun facts about the conference.
1. The University of Arizona and fellow conference member Baylor University have played each other in football just one time in their histories. The Bears defeated the Wildcats 20-15 in the 1992 John Hanco*ck Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The two will not face each other in the regular conference season this year.
2. The Wildcats will play against two Big 12 schools who were their former rivals in previous conferences. Arizona and Texas Tech competed against each other in the Border Conference for 20 years, until 1952 when the Red Raiders jumped to the now-defunct Southwest Conference. The Wildcats battled the Brigham Young University Cougars for 16 years, from 1962 to 1978, in the Western Athletic Conference.
3. The Big 12 includes three schools that Arizona has never before faced in football: the University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University.
4. The Big 12 is the fourth athletic conference for the U of A. The Wildcats were founding members of Border Conference in 1931 and the Western Athletic Conference in 1962. Arizona joined the Pac-10 in 1978, which became the Pac-12 in 2011 with the addition of Colorado and Utah.
5. The U of A is one of five land-grant universities in the Big 12. The others are Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University and West Virginia University.
6. With the addition of Arizona, six Big 12 men's basketball programs have won national titles: Utah in 1944; Oklahoma State (then known as Oklahoma A&M) in 1945 and 1946; Kansas in 1952, 1988, 2008 and 2022; Cincinnati in 1961 and 1962; Arizona in 1997; and Baylor in 2021.
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7. Seven Big 12 marching bands have been awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation for demonstrating the highest musical standards and innovative marching routines: The Pride of Arizona (U of A) , Sun Devil Marching Band (ASU), Iowa State University Cyclone Marching Band, Marching Jayhawks (University of Kansas), Kansas State University Marching Band , Goin' Band from Raiderland (Texas Tech) and The Pride of West Virginia (West Virginia University).
8. There are eight named conference rivalries. Aside from the Duel in the Desert, or Territorial Cup, between Arizona and Arizona State, they are:
- Farmageddon (Iowa State vs. Kansas State)
- The Holy War (BYU vs. Utah)
- Rumble in the Rockies (Colorado vs. Utah)
- Sunflower Showdown (Kansas vs. Kansas State)
- Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout (Baylor vs. Texas Tech)
- The Revivalry (Baylor vs. TCU)
- The West Texas Championship (TCU vs. Texas Tech)
9. In football, each team will play nine regular-season conference games, and every team will play each other at least once at home and once away over the next four years.
10. The 16 schools in the Big 12 represent 10 different states.
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11. Eleven Big 12 athletics programs have an animal as a costumed mascot:
Four cats:
- Arizona Wildcats (Wilbur and Wilma)
- BYU Cougars (Cosmo)
- Houston Cougars (Shasta)
- Kansas State Wildcats (Willie)
Three birds:
- Iowa State Cyclones (Cy the Cardinal)
- Kansas Jayhawks (Big Jay and Baby Jay)
- Utah Utes (Swoop the red-tailed hawk)
Other animals:
- Baylor Bears (Bruiser and Marigold)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (The Bearcat)
- Colorado Buffaloes (Chip)
- TCU Horned Frogs (SuperFrog)
The other five mascots are a knight (University of Central Florida), cowboy (Oklahoma State), mountaineer (West Virginia University), masked rider (Texas Tech) and sun devil (ASU).
12. Arizona will have 12 new conference opponents. Arizona's all-time record in football against each is in parentheses.
- Baylor (0-1)
- BYU: (12-12-1)
- Central Florida (0-0)
- Cincinnati (0-0)
- Houston (1-3)
- Iowa State (4-1-1)
- Kansas (2-3-1)
- Kansas State (5-1-1)
- Oklahoma State (4-5)
- TCU (1-1)
- Texas Tech (5-26)
- West Virginia (0-0)
