Tucson Standard

The world of college athletics is undergoing significant changes, with conferences expanding and evolving in ways that challenge traditional geographic alignments. The Big 12 Conference will soon encompass 16 members, while the Big Ten will grow to 18. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 has dwindled to just two members.

In an unexpected twist, the Atlantic Coast Conference is adding Stanford and Cal—schools located on the Pacific Coast—resulting in a long 2,700-mile journey for fellow member Boston College. The Big 12 now stretches from Arizona to Florida, and the Big Ten spans from Washington state to New Jersey.

Desiree Reed-Francois, recently appointed director of athletics at the University of Arizona, shared her perspective on these changes following a meeting with the Arizona Board of Regents at Arizona State University's campus in Tempe. "I've been working in college athletics for more than 25 years, and this is the most significant time of growth and change I've seen," she stated.

Reed-Francois emphasized that during such transformative times there are bound to be challenges but expressed confidence in striving for a modern model of intercollegiate athletics focused on student-athletes and high performance.

Both Reed-Francois and Graham Rossini from ASU met Brett Yormark, commissioner of the Big 12, who presented his vision for the conference. ASU is also set to join the Big 12 this year. Yormark articulated his aspiration for a national conference identity: "When I took this job, I aspired (for the Big 12) to be a national conference."

Yormark outlined priorities such as maximizing brand value, managing expenses effectively, enhancing media strategies, and investing in student-athletes both academically and athletically. He acknowledged current complexities but remained optimistic about future opportunities: "Ultimately, we're going to land in the right place. We're going to thrive in this next chapter."

Looking ahead to negotiations for its next television deal, Yormark has challenged networks like ESPN and Fox to innovate their storytelling approaches. His focus remains on ensuring member institutions prosper within this evolving landscape: "The thing that keeps me up at night is that our member institutions land in a great place."

Reed-Francois highlighted potential opportunities for Arizona through its new affiliation with four Texas-based schools within the Big 12: Baylor University; Houston; TCU; Texas Tech University—all offering promising avenues into markets rich with talent among athletes or students alike.

"We're looking forward to opening up the Texas market," she noted while expressing ambitions beyond regional borders by stating plans aimed at establishing UA's presence nationwide.

Reed-Francois concluded optimistically about leveraging forthcoming challenges into advantages competitively across various domains involved within collegiate sports today.