A few weeks ago, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced that the conference was considering adding the defending national champion UConn Huskies. This was a surprising move as football typically drives conference realignment and UConn has been one of the worst programs in the last decade. However, the Big 12 has been trying to add as many valuable assets as possible in an attempt to keep up with the SEC and the Big Ten.
UConn and Big 12 Talks Halt: What This Means For The Conference
Today, Yormark released a statement saying that the conference is pausing expansion efforts and UConn to the Big 12 would be on hold for now. While this is bad news for the Huskies right now, Yormark still believes that the basketball brand is a valuable asset and there could be further talks in the future. He explains the desire to add UConn is to gain a presence in the Northeast, which is a valuable media market. The Big 12 is also home to a few old Big East rivals with West Virginia and Cincinnati. UConn’s athletic director also released a statement about the topic. This confirms that the hesitance was on the Big 12’s side.
What Would Adding UConn Mean For Big 12 Basketball?
The Big 12 is widely considered to be the most competitive conference in college basketball. For years, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, and many more have been nationally ranked programs. But, the conference’s power came from its depth. West Virginia, Texas Tech, TCU, and Kansas State have all had periods of strength in recent years. Not to mention Oklahoma and Texas have been nationally relevant for a long time. However, these two schools have left for the SEC, which has caused a flurry of additions by the conference. Many of the schools added have strong basketball programs. Houston was added in 2023. The Cougars have been a top 5 basketball program over the last decade and continue to look strong. Arizona was a perennial PAC 12 contender and is a historically great team. Cincinnati has not had much recent success but has a great history. Overall, this would solidify the Big 12 as the best conference in college basketball. There would simply be too many top programs in the conference.
Will This Move Happen?
While you never like to say never in college sports, this is a move that does not seem likely to happen. Simply put, UConn’s football weighs it down too much. While many schools that were added to the Big 12 do not have great football programs, they are at least respectable. UConn’s is almost FCS-level and it does not show many signs of improving. If it were to happen, it would likely be in a basketball-only move which doesn’t really make much sense. There are many elite basketball programs, like Duke and Virginia, with significantly better football programs. If the conference wanted to focus on basketball only, a school like Gonzaga or Dayton might be a better fit since neither has football teams.
