Big 12 Commissioner Issues Statement On Potential UConn Expansion

SALT LAKE CITY—Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is holding off on expansion talks with the UConn Huskies as college football season ramps up.

“As commissioner, it is my responsibility to explore a variety of value-creating opportunities on behalf of the Big 12,” Yormark said. “Following detailed discussions with my conference colleagues alongside UConn leadership, we have jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time. We will instead focus our attention and resources to ushering in this new era of college athletics.”

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark issues a statement on expansion talks with UConn.

“…we have jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time.” pic.twitter.com/GukfcZWAhB

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 5, 2024

Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger first reported conversations between the two sides in mid-August. Per Dellenger’s source, the Huskies basketball and Olympic sports programs would have joined the Big 12 no later than 2026. UConn’s football program, operating independently without conference affiliation, wouldn’t officially join the conference until 2031.

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UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict also released a statement regarding conversations with the Big 12.

“As you know, it’s been both an exciting and turbulent time in college athletics over the past few years,” Benedict began. “With the emergence of NIL and the transfer portal, the landscape has changed dramatically. Further, conference realignment has significantly blurred the national panorama.”

“Undoubtedly, many of you have followed recent media reports about the Big 12’s renewed interest in UConn as a conference member. It is always our objective to put UConn in the very best position for future success, so we did engage in exploratory dialogue with the Big 12. Ultimately, the Big 12 determined that it will pause on conversations about membership expansion.”

Conference expansion never sleeps

“We’ve got to make sure as a collective group we’re reaching our potential. So I haven’t really thought about what’s the right number,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark in July when asked what is the perfect number of members in a league. “I don’t know if it’s really about a number. I think it’s about the right fit. It’s about the value of potential school might or might not bring to the conference.”

The Big 12 Conference begins a new media rights deal with ESPN and FOX in the 2025-26 academic year that runs through 2031.

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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.

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