At Big 12 Media Days last month, commissioner Brett Yormark said the conference is still “open for business.” According to recent realignment rumors, he wasn’t lying. Which program could join the 16-team league?
Latest Realignment Rumors Point to UConn Joining the Big 12
UConn officials met with Big 12 athletic directors in Dallas last week, and according to The Athletic, it’s not the first time the two sides have been linked. Yormack has spoken with the school since at least last summer before officially bringing Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah into the fold.
Now, it’s important to reiterate that these are just preliminary discussions, as a high-ranking Big 12 official told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “There’s a far distance between conversations and anything that would happen. The presidents haven’t seen the case yet.”
The conference will reportedly meet next week to decide whether to extend an invitation to UConn. The football team will join the league no sooner than 2031, and the basketball team and Olympic sports could make their debut as early as 2026.
The Huskies have been an FBS Independent in football since leaving the AAC in 2020, while the back-to-back national champion basketball squad competes in the Big East. In order to leave their current conference, UConn would have to provide a 27-month notice to leave, although it could be negotiated along with a $15 million exit fee.
Yormark has made it clear that he wants to position the Big 12 as the premier basketball conference in the country, and adding UConn to the likes of Kansas, Arizona, and Houston would do just that.
Last year, Yormark acknowledged that discussions with UConn and Gonzaga didn’t pan out initially due to the unexpected opportunity to add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. However, with UConn potentially joining the league by 2031, it would align perfectly with the Big 12’s next media rights deal, set to begin after the 2030-31 school year.
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The league has been at the forefront of business advancement on the college football landscape with the House vs. NCAA settlement coming down. It had preliminary discussions over private equity and naming rights deals to generate revenue and even announced a new 24/7 audio network partnership with TuneIn.
As the Big 12 continues to innovate, UConn could be the next major expansion, further solidifying the conference’s position as a powerhouse in both athletics and business.
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