Provo • BYU basketball’s climb in the Big 12 was always going to be treacherous. But thanks to commissioner Brett Yormark’s addition of the four new schools in 2024, BYU coach Mark Pope’s job somehow just got harder.
After the Big 12 added Arizona and Arizona State (plus Utah and Colorado), the conference now has the potential to be a nine- or 10-bid league. That’s on top of being headlined by the likes of Kansas, Houston, Kansas State and Baylor in the future.
“I’m telling you, this Big 12 Conference, I don’t know if there has been anything like it,” Pope said. “Maybe the first couple of years of the ACC when they expanded. But the ACC never had the football presence that the Big 12 has. And what is happening here in basketball is incredible.
“... It’s the best basketball conference in the country by miles right now. And that is super exciting.”
The Big 12 got seven teams in the tournament last year. It could have been eight if Oklahoma State had fallen on the right side of the bubble. And that was without Houston in the league, which earned a No. 1 seed and spent the majority of the year ranked No. 1 in the country.
Yormark doubled down by adding Arizona, which has been a top-30 program the last four years. Over the last decade, it has been to seven NCAA Tournaments. Five times it made it to the second weekend (including two Elite Eights).
“I’m really excited to have Arizona in this conference,” Pope said. “That has been an incredible program for a long time. They were the standard bearer of the Pac-12 for a long time. To have them in the Big 12 is super exciting.”
Arizona State also recently turned things around under coach Bobby Hurley. But the new addition that caught Pope’s eye was Utah.
“This rivalry with Utah is so fantastic,” Pope said. “It has outdated all of us. It existed before all of us were here and it is going to exist after we’re all gone. Those are part of the things that makes sports special. And the fact that a lot of people are like torn up about it, a lot of people are celebrating, is exactly why we should be in the same conference.”
It is a fair question to ask whether Pope actually wanted this. BYU was projected near the bottom of the Big 12 this season. Perhaps the only other team with a harder road would have been UCF.
But Pope said he was happy Yormark added some of the toughest teams in the sport. Pope indicated Yormark was honest that he was going after Colorado first. Then he would try to pick off Utah, Arizona and ASU.
“He had a good sense of Colorado,” Pope said. “And the other three schools were touch and go. There were some contingency plans that I was personally, selfishly super excited about. But the way it worked out is exactly the way it should. And it is going to be awesome.”
Two of those plans were UConn and Gonzaga. The Huskies just won the national title and Gonzaga has been the most successful program in the sport over the last 10 years in terms of winning percentage.
Pope deflected on whether he wanted to add UConn.
“You guys are going to get me in trouble now,” he said. “I’m really excited about this conference. Couldn’t be any better than it is right now.”
And from the health of BYU’s future, he thinks this was the right move.
“It makes this conference so stable, which is what you are really searching for in this conference realignment: stability,” he said. “... To be at this number of teams, and teams that actually fit. The teams in this conference, for the most part, really fit this conference.”
Going forward, there has been some speculation as to how the Big 12 will handle travel. Will Yormark elect for travel pods, particularly for teams out west? BYU is now paired with Utah, Arizona, Colorado and ASU geographically.
Nothing has been finalized, but Pope believes BYU is better off thanks to the addition of the other Four Corners schools.
“I love the fact that we have this little region,” Pope said. “This kind of corner of the conference.”
But there is no doubt Pope might have the toughest job out of all the BYU coaches in transitioning to the Big 12. And it just got harder.
“We are in the right place. This is the right time,” Pope finished. “This is an opportunity we never had before as a BYU athletic department. And it is here now, guys.”
BYU announces non-conference schedule
Nov. 6 — Houston Christian — Provo, 7 p.m.
Nov. 10 — San Diego State — Provo, TBA
Nov. 15 — Southeastern Louisiana— Provo, 7 p.m.
Nov. 18 — Morgan State — Provo, TBA
Nov. 23 — vs. Arizona State — Las Vegas, 10 p.m.
Nov. 24 — vs. NC State/Vanderbilt — Las Vegas, TBA
Dec. 1 — vs. Fresno State — Salt Lake City, TBA
Dec. 5 — Evansville — Provo, 7 p.m.
Dec. 9 — at Utah — Salt Lake City, TBA
Dec. 13 — Denver — Provo, 7 p.m.
Dec. 16 — Georgia State — Provo, 7 p.m.
Dec. 22 — Bellarmine — Provo, 7 p.m.
Dec. 30 — Wyoming — Provo, TBA
