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“Coach, how many days is it?� Robbins asked Jedd Fisch, one of five Wildcat head coaches to attend the news conference Monday morning at Arizona Stadium.

“Twenty-six,� Fisch said, referring to the countdown to Arizona’s football opener against NAU.

Robbins seemed eager to move on from the conference-realignment chaos that has consumed him for months and came to a head last week. Likewise UA athletic director Dave Heeke, who sat beside Robbins for the Q&A with the press. Afterward, when asked what’s atop his to-do list as Arizona transitions from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, Heeke said: “Get a good night’s sleep.�

They know there’s no rest, though, especially in the ever-changing world of college athletics. The leaders of the university and its athletic department also understand that the decision they made — to end Arizona’s 45-plus-year allegiance to the Pac-12 and join the Big 12 along with ASU, Colorado and Utah — requires explanation and clarification.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Robbins’ and Heeke’s first public comments since Arizona announced its monumental move this past Friday:

‘Best direction’ for UA

After all the speculation, procrastination and negotiations, Robbins and Heeke had to, as Heeke put it, “clear through the mess� and focus on a singular question: What’s the best move for the University of Arizona?

They ultimately decided that the Big 12, with the stability and exposure it offered, was the place to be.

“We just thought this was the best direction for us to move forward with for the students here, our fans, faculty and staff in the state of Arizona,� Robbins said. “We thought the future was going to be brighter being a member of the Big 12 and all the opportunities that that affords us.

“They’ve been very aggressive; I liked that. They’re thinking about new ways to highlight the conference, and I think our students and coaches and staff will appreciate that approach to college athletics.�

Robbins expressed admiration for Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, who outmaneuvered Pac-12 counterpart George Kliavkoff in the wake of Oklahoma and Texas announcing their departure from the Big 12 in the summer of 2021, and USC and UCLA similarly exiting the Pac-12 last summer.

Yormark re-upped the Big 12’s media-rights deal with ESPN and FOX a year early, beating Kliavkoff to the marketplace. The cost certainty of that agreement, which will give each school $31.7 million annually, compared to the unpredictability of the Pac-12’s proposed deal with Apple proved to be a deciding factor.

“It was about stability, both financially and competitively,� Heeke said. “That was what was at the root of where we’re headed to today. We wanted to continue a nationally competitive, nationally recognized not only university but athletic program. That’s really important.�

Pac-12’s Hail Mary

Although the choice eventually became clear, Robbins insisted Arizona was committed to staying in the Pac-12 as late as Friday morning. That contradicts reports that the UA and the Big 12 had come to terms Thursday night.

“That’s not true,� Robbins said when asked about the Thursday timeline.

Pac-12 leaders held a meeting Friday morning. Three days earlier, Kliavkoff had presented them long-awaited details of the media-rights deal he had been working on. It wasn’t enough to save the conference, as Oregon and Washington moved to the Big Ten that same morning.

“We were showing up together to sign in blood our grant of rights over to the Pac-12 Conference,� Robbins said. “I got called by one of the presidents (of Oregon or Washington) who said, ‘Look, this is tough, but we came to an agreement with the Big Ten minutes ago, and I just wanted to give you a heads-up before we get together as presidents and chancellors that we will be taking our talents to the Big Ten.’ �

Robbins, who was born and raised in Mississippi, became UA president in 2017. He previously worked at Stanford, which, despite its academic and athletic prowess, thus far has been left out of this latest round of realignment. Robbins even described himself as a “Pac-12 guy.� He had to cast aside his feelings about the conference to make a decision that was all about business.

“My hope (was) some way there’s a way to keep the conference together,� Robbins said. “But without a TV deal and with just a few schools left ... that (was) going to be a problem.�

Robbins later added: “Do I like it? No. I’m sad about it. But we all gotta move forward.�

Apple proposal’s flaws

Robbins made two references Monday to the “next episode� for UA athletics — an appropriate pun given that media companies (primarily ESPN and FOX) have been the driving force behind realignment.

He said throughout the process that no firm decisions would be made until he could compare the Pac-12 and Big 12’s media deals. Although he found the idea of partnering with Apple to be “very intriguing,� Robbins saw too many flaws in the structure of the proposal.

Robbins said the Apple agreement would have given each school a baseline of $23 million per year and had no linear component — i.e., broadcast or cable television.

“Those were the two things that were problematic for people when they were evaluating the long-term sustainability of the contract,� Robbins said. “And, of course, that it was subscription-based.�

That last part proved to be the third strike for university leaders scarred by the underwhelming distribution of the Pac-12 Networks. The Pac-12 could have matched or exceeded the Big 12’s revenue by hitting certain subscription thresholds, but Robbins said he and his colleagues concluded that model would “be like selling candy bars for Little League or Girl Scout Cookies.�

“Parts of it were very, very compelling and exciting,� Robbins said. “(But) you’ve got to convince three to five million people every year to sign up for $100 a year to watch on (a) streaming-only app.�

Deal with the Devils

Robbins disputed the notion that he had to persuade ASU president Michael Crow to leave the Pac-12.

“I don’t think there was anybody bringing anybody along,� Robbins said. “This was something that I thought — the two of us thought — was in the best interest of the state, for both of our universities, for the rivalry.

“We didn’t want to get into a situation where we just kept the Territorial Cup forever. ... We wanted to stay together.�

that “a number of us, including me, have been strongly committed to the maintenance of the Pac-12 Conference.� He added that “Arizona and Arizona State decided we wouldn’t split up under any circumstances� and described the two as “strange fraternal twins.�

Regardless of whether there was a real chance the two would part, the UA-ASU rivalry will remain intact and instantly becomes one of the spiciest matchups in the new Big 12. The only fiercer frenemies might by BYU and Utah.

“ASU’s going to always be our biggest game and rivalry game,� said Robbins, adding that he’s looking forward to men’s basketball matchups between Arizona and longtime powerhouse Kansas.

Future considerations

Heeke’s real to-do list includes myriad tasks, from replacing Pac-12 logos on various campus fields, courts and buildings to figuring out new schedules and travel itineraries for the Wildcats’ 22 scholarship programs. ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV officially will join the Big 12 less than a year from now.

How exactly the 16-team league will be structured is to be determined. But Heeke said the initial projections don’t call for “significant change� in terms of Arizona’s travel challenges — an ongoing concern, especially for athletes in “non-revenue� sports, as conference memberships spread from coast to coast. With ASU, Colorado and Utah remaining league partners, and with four schools just one state over in Texas, Heeke said “there is a chance that it could save us some costs as well.�

Heeke — who considers himself a “believer� in the ideals of college sports, even as TV money dictates so many decisions — also appreciates that the new Big 12 will preserve at least some of the regionality that fuels fan and alumni interest and animus.

“It allows us to stay in a footprint nearby and compete with common opponents that we know and some that we’ve competed with in the past,� Heeke said.

The rhetoric from Heeke and Robbins on Monday skewed mostly toward the future. They already had gone through all the what-if scenarios. It’s Big 12 or bust until the next major change comes along.

“It was a complicated and chaotic time,� Robbins said. “We all just kept grinding and did the best we could to make the decision for the best interests of the University of Arizona. Because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re fiduciaries of, this great university, to try to put our students in the best position to compete, try to put our university in the best position, one that that will be sustainable and last.

“You could blame lots of people, but let’s just look forward and live life through the windshield and not the rearview mirror.�