Big 12 Expands as the Pac-12 Dissolves

Friday, August 4, 2023, will go down as a monumental day in the world of sports. At the beginning of the day, the Pac-12 presidents had a meeting about the future of the conference. There was optimism that all schools would sign an agreement to have their games streamed on Apple TV, but that failed.  

After the meeting Oregon and Washington became fully engaged in talks with the Big 10 and by the end of the day they got an invite to the conference. The Big 10 is already adding USC and UCLA next season and Oregon and Washington will follow. The Big 10 will now have 18 members in the conference.  

Before Oregon and Washington left Friday the week before that Colorado left the Pac-12 for the Big 12 and that started to turn heads. After Oregon and Washington’s departure, the Pac-12 had no hope of keeping the conference alive. Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah got an invite into the Big 12 later Friday. The Big 12 will now have 16 members in their conference after this season.  

With all these teams leaving the Pac-12 there are only four left: California, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State. The big question for these teams is what will they do. They don’t have enough to form their own conference and taking teams from the Moutain West conference probably won’t work.  

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel Cal and Stanford are in discussion to join the ACC. Nothing is imminent and there has been no vote taken.  

The Pac-12 said, “We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities.” The Pac-12 was formed in 1916 and more than a century later it looks like it will not be around after this season. All teams that are leaving will not have to pay an exit fee as the conferences' TV contracts are up after this season.  

Elon Musk has dramatically revealed a brand makeover for Twitter -- he's now calling it "X" --  and the reactions are pouring in. Musk has decided to discard the familiar name and the instantly recognizable bird logo.

Although the site has seen design alterations before (initially appearing as 'Twittr'), the bird graphic became the logo of the company since its introduction in 2010. And "tweeting" and "retweet" became part of our everyday language that was specific to the platform.

Musk surprised everyone with his announcement on Sunday, and by Monday morning, he tweeted that X.com now redirects to Twitter.com. He followed up with, "Interim X logo goes live later today," and not long after, he posted a picture of Twitter's headquarters illuminated with a massive new X.

The Twitter website has now adopted the new logo, leaving behind the familiar blue bird. In a previous statement, Musk expressed his intention to bid farewell to the Twitter brand and gradually eliminate all bird-related elements.

Twitter has prominently featured its vibrant and globally recognized blue bird logo for over a decade. The rebranding can be seen as a significant attempt to revamp the company's image. In recent months, Musk has been warning about Twitter's precarious financial situation, with steep losses in ad revenue and concerns about potential bankruptcy.

Adding to the pressure, Threads, a rival social media platform launched by Meta, Facebook's parent company, garnered over 100 million user sign-ups within its first week, posing further competition to Twitter.

On Sunday, Twitter's CEO Linda Yaccarino shared on the platform: "X represents the future state of limitless interactivity – focusing on audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – building a worldwide marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Fueled by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're only just starting to envision."

Despite Yaccarino's announcement, many users have taken to mocking the statement and questioning the motive behind the rebrand. Others suggested the "X" was a bad idea. "Imagine explaining to your wife that you watched some Xvideos today," wrote a user.

As soon as Twitter turned into X, people didn't waste a second and began cracking jokes about the whole transformation.

In a lyrical twist, the NFT site X2Y2 chimed in on the change by referencing 'X Gon' Give It To Ya' by DMX.

Memes became the language of expression for some users, including one verified user named "Double D Katy," who humorously questioned who exactly asked for the social platform's rebrand.

The letter 'X' often brings to mind X-rated content, leading many users -- including a verified user named "Alevity" -- to associate something other than a simple rebrand with the new identity.

Sesame Street joined in on the rebrand reaction fun, using their expertise in showcasing letters by presenting the letter X in a comical press conference.

Amid the reactions to the rebrand, some darker sentiments emerged, including a powerful graphic depicting the iconic Twitter bird in ruins.

Even the digital platform Mashable didn't hold back, pointing out that X.com doesn't actually redirect you to the intended URL. If you type X.com into your search bar, it still shows Twitter.com.

Coincidentally, some bands and artists have albums titled 'X,' including Def Leppard. The social platform's rebranding came just in time for the 21st anniversary of the band's X album, which falls on this Sunday.