On Thursday, the Big 12 announced that it had halted conversations with UConn after it was reported that the league was considering further expansion by adding the Huskies.
The league released a statement on Thursday as Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark spelled out his plan for the league moving forward.
“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.”
A few hours after the Big 12’s announcement, UConn athletic director David Benedict released an official statement on the matter, directing his message to “UConn Nation.”
“As you know, it’s been both an exciting and turbulent time in college athletics over the past few years,” Benedict writes. “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. Our objective is always 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.”
Now, on Friday morning, Rob Reinhart of the New York Herald has reportedly revealed what kept UConn from becoming a member of the Big 12 despite there being real momentum in recent weeks.
According to Reinhart’s report, the Huskies’ football program — more specifically its lack of NIL funding and poor performance on the field — was the roadblock that keep UConn from joining the league.
However, Reinhart also hinted that the decision not to add the Huskies wasn’t final, but that they’d have another chance to pitch to the conference in about 10 or 12 years.
So, if you’re a fan of the Huskies — and you want to see them join the Big 12 — you’d better start helping raise the NIL money that it’ll take to get UConn football winning on the field again.
