Big 12 Football: 3 PAC-12 schools that benefit from joining the conference

1) PAC-12 teams that would benefit from joining Big 12 football: Utah

We couldn’t really go wrong by picking either head coach Kyle Whittingham and his Utah squad to move to the Big 12 or the Colorado Buffaloes to join their former conference on this last part of the hypothetical list. But what would be more beneficial for the Big 12 in this scenario would be the Utes moving from the weird fit of the PAC-12 South to joining a former Mountain West Conference rival.

Utah and the TCU Horned Frogs used to have some truly classic battles in the Mountain West when they were both two of the best Group of Five programs year in and year out. They both still consistently sit among the most underrated Power Five programs in the entire country, but neither has yet to really get over that hump.

TCU got close to representing the Big 12 in the College Football Playoff early in their run in the mix, back in 2014 when Trevone Boykin was a Heisman contender. But one loss to the Baylor Bears denied them entry that year to the eventual champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

And Utah was close on a few occasions when they got off to hot starts in the regular season, but they usually taper off. Whittingham’s Utes even got to face the Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl last year, much to their avail.

Utah could once again be a PAC-12 Championship contender in 2020, but they would have to do it in a very challenging shortened season. They will also have to work through the likes of the USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks, Washington Huskies, etc.