The Big 12 is Officially Pausing Discussions with UConn

Casey Lundquist | Sep 5, 2024

Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley celebrates after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on April 8, 2024. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Thursday, the Big 12 conference announced that it has paused conversations about adding UConn.

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

The press release comes a few weeks after UConn officials met with Big 12 leadership about potentially joining the league, according to multiple reports.

The proposal was to have UConn join in football in 2031. All other sports would have joined the conference as early as 2026. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that talks stalled because of timing and changing landscape of college athletics.

"Per sources, the talks stalled and ended up being tabled because of the timing," Thamel wrote. "With the initial season of the 16-team league underway and schools facing looming decisions in the House Case and figuring out revenue share, adding membership simply wasn't a priority."

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has been pushing to add UConn for the last several years. Seemingly every time UConn is brought up, there is pushback from the membership institutions. While UConn is one of the most valuable college basketball brands, it's football product leaves a lot to be desired.

For now, UConn will not be a member of the Big 12 anytime soon.