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That has all changed in the Big 12. Two of the league’s bottom-feeders, Houston and Cincinnati, opened Oregon-esque, head-turning football facilities this summer, leap-frogging Arizona and putting the Wildcats’ football facilities in the bottom half of the league.

Houston moved into the $130 million Hermann Memorial Football Operations Center at TDECU Stadium, requiring 105,000 square feet.

Cincinnati opened the $134 million Sheakley Indoor Practice Facility and Athletics Performance Center, requiring 200,000 square feet.

Not only that, Kansas is in the middle of a $300 million project to re-do Booth football stadium, Phase 1 of which opens this month, and Texas Tech — the Oregon of Big 12 sports spending — unveiled the $242 million Womble Football Center, a renovation of Tech’s football facilities.

It wasn’t long ago (2013) that Arizona puffed out its chest and proudly unveiled the $74 million Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and five years later spent another $20 million on the Davis Sports Center. The Wildcats then spent close to $25 million to refurbish the Zona Zoo section of Arizona Stadium. As recently as 2021, when Jedd Fisch pushed for about $8 million more in improvements to the Lowell-Stevens compound, Arizona probably had the No. 3 football facility in the Pac-12.

The league was so tardy in building contemporary, arms-race football facilities that Arizona State has continued to operate with possibly the worst indoor football practice facility in Power 4 football — the Verde Dickey Dome, a bubble built in 2008 that once collapsed in a monsoon storm and looks like something out of a 1970s movie. Finally, last week, ASU athletic director Graham Rossini announced the Sun Devils have begun fundraising to build a state-of-the-art indoor arena adjacent to Mountain America Stadium. How could he not?

The best football plant in the Big 12 probably belongs to Kansas State, based in small-town Manhattan, Kansas. KSU spent $90 million in 2013 to improve the west side of Snyder Family Stadium. It then spent $70 million two years later to build the Vanier Football Complex, and $52 million in 2021 for the Shamrock Zone project.

More? TCU spent $164 million in 2012 to re-do Amon G. Carter Stadium, followed by spending $120 million recently for an expansion and upgrades to the stadium’s east side.

In 2014, Baylor built McLane Stadium for $266 million and last year opened the $78 million Fudge Center, a football development and practice facility.

It’s not difficult to figure out what Arizona must do next to be competitive with Kansas, KSU, Baylor, Houston, Cincinnati, TCU, Utah and other Big 12 schools like Iowa State and Oklahoma State, who have football facilities beyond those at Arizona and ASU: the Wildcats must come up with a plan to modernize or totally destroy and rebuild the West side bleachers at Arizona Stadium. This is old news, yes.

The bones of the west side of Arizona Stadium date to 1929. Former UA President Robert C. Robbins once suggested the best thing to do would be to tear down the entire west side and start over. But that was then an estimated $250 million project, which is now likely $300 million or more. Ultimately, Robbins left that project for his successors. Meanwhile, Oregon State blew up the west side of Reser Stadium three years ago and rebuilt. It cost approximately $200 million. The Beavers beat Arizona to the punch. And now, the Houston Cougars and Cincinnati Bearcats have, as well.

Keeping up with the Joneses in college football has never been more difficult. It’s not the be-all, end-all to out-spend conference rivals on fancy, often excessive football compounds. Arizona’s sports facilities in basketball, baseball, swimming, softball and golf are A-level. But as the clock ticks toward the 100th anniversary of Arizona Stadium, a plan to rebuild the ancient west side of the stadium becomes more and more overdue.

In the meantime, the one urgent change at Arizona Stadium is to clean or replace the massive A on the back of the scoreboard on the south end of the stadium overlooking Sixth Street. It is so dirty and sun-beaten that it looks black rather than blue.