BRIEF: Pac-12 to become official

June 30, 2011, 1:34 a.m.

Just over a year after the addition of Utah and Colorado was announced, the two schools will become an official part of the soon-to-be-Pac-12 tomorrow.

The conference will also split into a North and South division next year, with Stanford, California, the Oregon schools and the Washington schools in the North and the remaining schools in the South.

Utah’s addition is expected to make an immediate impact on the Pac-12’s football hierarchy, though Stanford will not play the Utes this year since the conference schedule remains at nine games. The squad finished the season ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Poll with a 10-3 record after climbing as high as sixth in the rankings after an 8-0 start.

Colorado, on the other hand, is likely to be competitive in men’s basketball. The Buffaloes finished just outside the NCAA Tournament bracket last year but finished fifth in a competitive Big-12 before falling in the semifinals of the conference tournament to highly ranked Kansas.

Joseph Beyda is the editor in chief of The Stanford Daily. Previously he has worked as the executive editor, webmaster, football editor, a sports desk editor, the paper's summer managing editor and a beat reporter for football, baseball and women's soccer. He co-authored The Daily's recent football book, "Rags to Roses," and covered the soccer team's national title run for the New York Times. Joseph is a senior from Cupertino, Calif. majoring in Electrical Engineering. To contact him, please email jbeyda "at" stanford.edu.

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