The Big 12 conference is mulling over the possibility of expansion, with the University of Connecticut (UConn) the school at the forefront of the discussions according to multiple reports.
Late last week, ESPN reported that the Big 12 was in talks with UConn about having them join the conference in all sports, and then most recently, football insider Pete Thamel (ESPN) reported that the Big 12 Presidents and Athletic Directors met on Monday.
Thamel said the meeting was “informational in nature” and no vote was taken, but noted that it was led by an outside consultant who outlined the value UConn could bring to the conference through media and marketing.
Sources: The Big 12 presidents/ADs met about UConn today. No vote was taken on admitting the Huskies, as expected. The call was informational in nature and discussion focused. It was led by the Big 12’s outside consultant, which walked through UConn’s media and market value.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 26, 2024
Earlier in August, UConn AD David Benedict and Board Chair Daniel Toscano met with the Big 12 ADs in person, with conversations centered around football funding and how UConn could be competitive upon joining the league in 2031.
There has reportedly been pushback from multiple Big 12 members, so any agreement is far from solidified. If an agreement were to be reached, UConn would face a 27-month waiting period to exit the Big East, though it could negotiate its way out of that.
Following the Big 12’s loss of Texas and Oklahoma (which begins this coming season), the conference has seemingly started to rebrand as a basketball superpower. Recent additions that are strong basketball schools include Houston, Arizona and BYU.
UConn has long been a basketball powerhouse, having won back-to-back NCAA (March Madness) titles in 2023 and 2024.
“There has never been a better time than right now to be part of the Big 12,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in July at Big 12 football media days.
The Big 12 adds Arizona, Arizona State and Utah this season from the Pac-12 after bringing in BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston in 2023.
UConn only sponsors women’s swimming & diving after the men’s program was cut in 2020. The Huskies were the runners-up at the 2024 Big East Championships, finishing just 21 points shy of champion Villanova.
Big12 probably thinks UCONN brings the NY TV market in football just like they think Houston brings the Houston TV market and TCU the DFW market. Yormark is an interesting dude…..
Weren’t they 40million in the hole just a few years back, which is why they cut Mens Swimming. (Corrected: https://www.highereddive.com/news/university-connecticut-budget-cuts-deficit/705546/)
I understand they’ve had historical success which doesn’t happen often, back to back basketball champs that is but they can’t believe that sustainable, can they?
Correct. And while the financial position has improved (and is likely to keep improving as men’s basketball has more success), even those basketball programs have lost money historically, and the department at a whole is still losing an unreasonable amount annually.
They pushed all their chips in on football years ago. This might be the only move that gives them a chance at getting back to neutral as a result of that football decision.
Universities always cry that they don’t have any money. But in reality they do, they just want the donations to subsidize them.
The teams that were cut raised $100’s of thousands of dollar in pledges per team within a few weeks, yet they still cut those teams. Although their basketball teams are top notch, the football team has been atrocious for many years, the team plays 30+ minutes away from campus so it brings no energy or money to the campus itself, and if they move to the Big 12, none of that will change.
Welcome to the Big 12, UConn, they’ll kick women’s swimming to the curb just like they did to the men after the 19-20 season. Bet on it!
Ridiculous that there are even discussions regarding UCONN going to the Big 12 after just returning to the Big East. They’d need to pay a $15M exit fee. AD Benedict cut 4 sports in 2020 to make it look like he was doing something to help the ever growing athletic deficit. Cutting the men’s swim team saved little money since the facilities and coaches remained with the women’s team, and the women’s crew team won a Title IX lawsuit and were reinstated, The athletic deficit has grown exponentially while their football team continues to tank year after year yet their AD is still employed.
David Benedict is a football first guy and wants to be a “player” in that world. He has arguably the best overall collegiate hoops program (men and women) of any University but will sacrifice their home in the Big East where their programs grew and developed into national powers chasing football glory that will never happen. You can change conferences but you’re not going to get football players to leave the Sunbelt to go to a school in rural CT that plays their home games 30-40 minutes away in East Hartford. Benedict will take down the department chasing his dream.
Yes, everything you said is true.
But those basketball programs are losing money too.
So with where you are right now, do you:
1) accept that you’re going to be a program with no football and a basketball program that loses money or breaks even when they have a really good run, or
2) Try and make football profitable to close that gap.
They don’t have a good answer right now. The contracts they have to play games in Hartford are an anchor. The only way any of it works is if you turn Storrs into a place that people want to go to for an incredible gameday experience and host all their games (football and basketball) on campus.
Have you ever been to Storrs?….think College Station in the 40s and 50s. They need to go back to FCS and play Maine, UNH and URI.
Sounds like a good addition to the Big 12. Getting a market close to NYC. Maybe add Temple as well for inroads to the Philly market. It now appears that location of colleges does not matter anymore.
It would bring some viewers to basketball but even then you’re fighting with other good schools for those eyes. These schools will not add dollars to TV contracts bc those are 95% driven by Football, and Temple/UCONN do not bring in football viewers in any city in significant number, even in Storrs or Philly. If there are big #’s its because they are playing ND or whomever
Better to have a presence than no presence.