The Big 12 has put UConn’s potential membership on hold, similar to what happened with Gonzaga last year.
According to a statement from Commissioner Brett Yormark, UConn and the Big 12 have mutually decided to pause discussions about the back-to-back men’s basketball champions joining the conference. UConn Athletic Director David Benedict noted that while there was interest from the Big 12, the decision to halt talks was ultimately made by the conference.
This situation mirrors last year’s interactions between the Big 12 and Gonzaga, where initial discussions showed promise but ultimately stalled due to internal opposition within the conference.
While it doesn’t rule out future membership for UConn or Gonzaga, there is significant resistance among conference presidents and athletic directors that makes expansion unlikely in the near term.
Yormark’s attempts to bring Gonzaga into the fold in 2023 were met with concerns about timing, and now he had hoped the allure of UConn’s recent success and football program would change that. However, this effort has also fallen through, leaving both teams in limbo for the time being.
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