Big 12 announces UConn expansion talks have been paused

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark presented the idea of adding the Huskies to Big 12 leaders last week

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Discussions over potential conference expansion between the Big 12 and UConn have paused after the two sides engaged in conversations over the past few weeks.

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

Last week, Yormark presented a plan to add the Huskies in all Olympic sports, with exception to football — which would have to wait to join the conference in 2031 provided the school make heavy investments into the program. 

According to CBS Sports, “too many” Big 12 presidents and athletic directors are not sold on UConn’s benefit to the league and that questions loom over how the school would be paid out. The idea of having the 16 members give up any revenue money from the current media deal was a “non-starter,” according to CBS. Not to mention UConn is locked into the Big East until at least 2027, per league bylaws, and the school would have to pay an exit fee if it wanted to leave.

Gonzaga’s discussions with the Big 12 that resurfaced around this time a year ago were also tabled for similar reasons, as some of the league’s presidents and athletic directors were reportedly apprehensive to the idea of sharing revenue with a non-football school. Yormark wanted the school’s dominate men’s basketball program to clash with powerhouses Kansas, Houston and Arizona in conference play, but conversations between the conference and Gonzaga have stalled ever since the West Coast Conference announced it’s adding Grand Canyon and Seattle U as of the 2025-26 season.

UConn got closer to the finish line in part because of its successful men’s and women’s basketball programs, which have combined for 17 national championships since 1995. Huskies football, on the other hand, has struggled mightily as an FBS Independent. Some, like Yormark, believe that the school will make the necessary investments into its football program by the time the Big 12’s media rights deal expires in 2031.

Time will tell if that comes to fruition. CBS reported that Yormark still sees upside in UConn’s brand and isn’t ruling out the Huskies to the Big 12 in the future. For now, the league sets for its first season with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado on board, a year after adding BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to the mix.