Big 12's Brett Yormark Pauses Expansion Talk Amid UConn Rumors
In an attempt to continue building a powerhouse basketball conference at the collegiate level, the Big 12 was considering an addition of the UConn Huskies, who have won two straight National Championships. This is an incredible feat when considering the difficulty of winning consistently during March Madness.
The Big 12 is undergoing change as the conference has recently added eight programs with the departure of Oklahoma and Texas. In an attempt to keep up in the ever-changing world of college athletics, the Big 12 was considering an addition of UConn, which conversations have since been paused, according to the league's commissioner Brett Yormark.
"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 wrote in a release.
So, for now, scratch the idea of adding the Huskies to the league. With the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah -- the league marks eight additions in two years when factoring in the additions of Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and UCF.
On the football side of things, Oklahoma State will have the opportunity to compete at the top of the conference for years to come. In basketball, the program has struggled in recent years, despite success on the recruiting trail. Not adding UConn is a bit of a sigh of relief on the hardwood for the Cowboys, as first-year head coach Mark Pope looks to lead the program into a new era and turn things around.
It's hard to imagine the topic of conference expansion and realignment dies, though, given the current state of collegiate athletics. For now, at least, those conversations are on pause.
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KADE KIMBLE
Kade is a strategic communications student at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where he also minors in Sports Management. He has been covering the Oklahoma City Thunder with InsidetheThunder.com since the 2022 season after having followed the team since its early days.