Realignment Just Won't Go Away: 49 Days Until Kansas Football

Looking at some of the options for the Big 12 expansion plans.

© David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

No matter how tired you might be hearing about conference realignment, it still is the hot topic that gets brought up at every single opportunity. And while I wrote just three weeks ago how unlikely it was that it that meaningful realignment happened in the near future, the media couldn't help but ask about it at Big 12 Media Days.

Specifically, Brett Yormark talked in his opening comments about the current membership, noting the early withdrawal of Oklahoma and Texas as an accomplishment. But he was asked again about the comments he made earlier in the offseason about wanting to stay at 14 teams and that the Big 12 has a plan that would allow them to do that.

And as the event was going on, it was reported that the University of Connecticut is telling football recruits that they expect to be playing in the Big 12 conference during the playing career of those recruits. 

So let's take a look at the various possibilities that the Big 12 might explore if they did stay at 14 teams:

UConn

It's fair to say that the smoke has been heaviest around the Huskies, especially recently.  And it makes sense for both the team and the conference.

The last time the Huskies left the friendly confines of the Big East, it was because the schools with football teams split off to form the American Conference. But UConn has always been a basketball school at heart.  The situation in the American was not conducive to their basketball success. Getting back the Big East came at the expense of the football program, which has generally struggled to find its footing as an independent.

But the Big 12 solves both of those problems. They are inarguably the best conference over the last decade in college basketball.  While they won't have their traditional rivalries, the ability to play against the best competition, including marquee matchups like the Jayhawks, will no doubt energize the fanbase. 

And on the football side, the Big 12 has become known as one of the most balanced Power Five conference.  Multiple teams have drastically improved their program standing recently, and UConn would have a similar opportunity.

Colorado

The Pac 12 is a mess right now, as they are still waiting to see what the final numbers are for the media deal that George Kliavkoff is able to cobble together.

But Colorado head coach Deion Sanders hasn't been shy about his desire to play in the Big 12. And this move makes sense on a lot of levels.

Arizona

The Wildcats have been considered to be completely on the fence during this entire situation. While they clearly wish to make the Pac 12 viable moving forward, they haven't been shy about noting that they may need to explore other options.

There were plenty of rumors that they were ready to make the jump, but most of those were based on the thought that the final numbers had been received and would be well short of what was needed. Instead, there is still enough uncertainty remaining that they haven't committed to the move. 

Gonzaga 

This one is all about basketball, so we'll just touch on it briefly.  With no football team, this move only makes sense if Yormark either can't get another football schoolor if he sees enough potential in basketball growth to make the move worth it.

Others

There are plenty of other possibilities, and a lot of other schools would seriously consider a move to the Big 12 if it was offered. San Diego State recently got into some trouble assuming an invite was coming, so they would accept immediately. 

Other Pac 12 possibilities would be Arizona State and Utah, or Oregon and Washington. But both of those pairs would require the Pac 12 to fall apart first, and it's still unknown how likely that is.

Other schools like Memphis, Tulane and SMU were left out of the previous expansion efforts. They would welcome moving up at any point. 

Options for 14

So what schools could be included in the plan that Yormark mentioned during Media Days? It seems most likely that he was referring to the possibility of adding Colorado and Arizona. That is both the biggest financial addition and one that still requires some dominoes to fall. Should the Pac 12 numbers come back unfavorably, Yormark is ready to pounce.

If that doesn't work out, the addition of UConn and Gonzaga is the next most likely.  Since divisions are not required for a conference championship, having an even number of football schools isn't necessary. But it's easy to see why that option would be behind teams from the Pac 12.

I don't think any other scenario is likely at all.  Each of the schools on the list would immediately sign if they were offered, so if the Big 12 really thought they added value, they would already be in the conference. 

Ultimately, the Big 12 has a lot of options if they were to choose further expansion.  But as Yormark stressed in his appearance this week, there is no specific number.  And there doesn't appear to be any rush to add more teams at the moment.