Thursday afternoon, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement in regards to expansion conversations regarding the University of Connecticut.
“As Commissioner, it is my responsibility to explore a variety of value-creating opportunities on behalf of the Big 12. 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 has been pushing for UConn to join the league for quite some time, adding to an already loaded basketball conference. The two-time defending champions would put the Big 12 head and shoulders above the other major conferences in basketball and make the women’s basketball conference that much stronger with long-tenured success under Geno Auriemma.
The biggest concerns with adding UConn is the small fan base they have and the lack of success the football program has had over the years. Since 2016, the Huskies have won more than three games in a season just once and in that span have compiled a record of 19-67 (.283). The initial plan was to have UConn join the league in football as early as 2031, giving them ample time to build the program while other sports would join the league earlier.
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