The University of Utah has accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10, the conference announced at a press conference Thursday.
The conference will have 12 members beginning in the 2011-2012 academic year. Colorado accepted an invitation to join the conference on June 10.
“The addition of the University of Utah as the conference's 12th member continues to strengthen the Pac-10's goals of becoming the country's leader in college athletics,” Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said. “The University of Utah is a great academic and athletic fit, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Pac-10.”
Utah's addition to the Pac-10 brings a legitimate football contender to the fold. The Utes are 69-16 since 2003, a stretch that has seen the Utes go undefeated twice. They beat Alabama 31-17 in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
“This is a tremendous thing for the University of Utah,” the school's president, Michael Young, said at a press conference announcing Utah's addition to the conference. “Looking at this from an athletic perspective … the privilege and opportunity to compete with great schools of Pac-10 and the athletic tradition that those schools bring, as well as the geography. [It is a home] to fans and alumni and to students as well. The opportunity to play with those great schools is something we look forward to very much.”
The Pac-10 will likely be split into two, six-team divisions, though Scott said the conference has not yet determined how the schools will be divided.
The conference is also entertaining the idea of a conference championship game in football, the commissioner said. Scott said no decision has been made as to whether the conference's name will be change.
Colorado are the first new teams to join the conference since 1978, when the Pac-10 collected UA and ASU from the Western Athletic Conference.
