The wrinkles within the Protect College Sports Act, which looks poised to move through the U.S. Senate following a handful of amendments and revisions, are hard to ignore as the legislation looks to reshape the conference map yet again.
A new amendment, this one by Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida), would grant a Power Four school the ability to move across conference lines and avoid a five-year probation period should they file to leave within 180 days of the bill becoming law. The report arrived early Friday morning via Ross Dellenger, who’s explored the topic at length in his weekly column at Yahoo.
So, what about the Big 12 Conference? Who would potentially want out?
Utah, which officially joined the league in 2024 amid the Pac-12’s collapse, is one of the main voices in favor of conference relocation despite its limited success since joining the Big 12, and also in neglect of its in-state rival, BYU, whose rivalry with the Utes is easily one of the marque football showdowns on television every year.
While Texas Tech isn’t exactly best friends with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark these days, the Utes appear more likely – or at least more serious – about taking their deep-pocket athletics department to the Big Ten.
In theory, any Big 12 school could leave, but it’s hard to look at anyone in the conference’s current lineup and present a rational case for the door. Some schools could compete in other sports, or even stack up academically, but we know for certain that football drives just about everything these days. Not all of it, of course, but competitive football has a legitimate impact on enrollment and athletics as a whole are a major part of the discussion here.
Is there greater economic opportunity than the Big 12? Sure, but can a school like Iowa State reasonably justify an ACC or Big Ten application? The good news that most Cyclones, I’d bet, are happy to stay put right where they are.
The Big 12 is a conference divided by three time zones these days, but it still maintains a competitive dynamic and physical, geographic boundaries. It’d be silly to lose Utah, but, unfortunately, the Utes are going to do whatever they please. Hopefully, they think things over a bit more before making a real mistake via this amendment.
