Big 12, UConn pause expansion discussions, though commissioner Brett Yormark remains bullish on Huskies

The Big 12 and UConn have paused discussions over potential expansion after engaging in conversations over the past several weeks. Despite a late push, both sides ultimately opted to move away from the bargaining table for now. 

“As commissioner, it is my responsibility to explore a variety of value-creating opportunities on behalf of the Big 12,” commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement. “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.” 

Yormark came to the Big 12 with a deep background both in the Northeast and basketball. While football has driven nearly every FBS expansion decision, conference officials have continuously been intrigued by the upside of basketball, going as far as considering splitting basketball from the conference’s media contract and selling it separately. 

UConn has become one of the premier basketball schools in the country with its history on both the men’s and women’s side over the past 30 years. The Huskies won back-to-back men’s national championships and have won six titles overall since 1999. The women have 11 titles since 1995 and stand apart as the top program in the history of the sport. Dan Hurley and Geno Auriemma are now both arguably the faces of their respective sports. 

The football program, however, is a giant black mark in expansion discussions. While Jim Mora Jr. helped the Huskies unexpectedly make a bowl game in 2022, the program has won three or fewer games six times over the past seven seasons while competing as a non-power. Since leaving the American Athletic Conference to compete as an FBS independent, the Huskies are 10-28. Under one proposal, UConn football would not become a full Big 12 football member until after the next contract in 2031 to give the Huskies time to ramp up, but it remains a contentious issue. 

Ultimately, at this point, there were too many presidents and athletic directors in the Big 12 who were not sold on UConn’s benefit to the Big 12, sources told CBS Sports. Questions loomed about how UConn would be paid out; having any of the 16 members give up any revenue money from the current media deal was a non-starter. Also potentially complicating matters, according to sources: UConn was/is locked into the Big East, per league bylaws, and would not have been able to exit without significant financial finagling until at least 2027 — not 2026 (as was previously reported). 

Yormark was hoping for a quick turn on UConn, but that would not have been feasible for a variety of reasons.

Sources say Yormark still believes in UConn’s upside and branding and isn’t abandoning hope the Huskies can one day be in the Big 12. He wants representation in the Northeast and knows UConn is the school that, by far, carries the most value. But he recognized that the timing wasn’t right with UConn and agreed to step away to avoid fracturing matters in his new 16-team league, a source said. If everyone in the Big 12 wasn’t on board, Yormark recognized wasn’t in the best interest of the conference to push the issue into the fall.

Yormark’s aggressiveness helped out-duel the legacy Pac-12 and ultimately allowed the Big 12 to survive amid realignment. Since he took over the Big 12, the league has welcomed eight new teams: the former Pac-12 teams, along with BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF. 

The 11-school Big East will maintain its most important member moving forward, while the new-look, 16-school Big 12 still figures to be the strongest basketball league in the country — even without the Huskies.