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New Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has made a few things clear. He wants to move back to twelve teams as soon as possible. He allowed Oklahoma and Texas to pay their way to the SEC a year earlier than expected. He also wants to dominate the basketball court with the league’s dominance in the sport (Baylor and Kansas won the the national titles in 2022 and 2023 titles respectively) with the Big Ten and SEC control on football. He wants to expand the conference beyond the middle part of the country (find out where he wants to expand later in this post). Here are seven teams the Big 12 could add to the conference, ranked:
1.Colorado
The Buffaloes are not the easy number one but they should have never left the conference originally a decade plus ago. They have an improving basketball program under Tad Boyle which fits new commissioner Brett Yormark’s want to focus on dominating basketball with the SEC and Big Ten’s control of football. In addition, the hiring of Deion Sanders means more ticket sales for the program and another good option to add to the conference.
2.Arizona
Adding Arizona to the Big 12 would mean adding the Phoenix location to the conference even though the university is in Tucson. The Wildcats have a powerful basketball program, an improving football program, and a steady basketball program.
3.Utah
Utah is in the same area in the country as Arizona and Colorado so they would be adding the same thing to the conference. However, reports have come out that the Utes do not want to come into the Big 12 with instate rival BYU, making them a less interested candidate.
4.Arizona State
At the beginning of realignment talks, Arizona and Arizona State were attached at the hip. Now, reports say that Arizona State is okay to stick in the Pac-12, where no new TV deal has been made. So, the Sun Devils seem like an unlikely option.
5.Connecticut
The Huskies won their fifth national championship in men’s basketball this past season which makes them a perfect fit in Brett Yormark’s Big 12. Yormark wants to dominate basketball and adding UConn would make that statement.
6.San Diego State
San Diego State wants out of the Mountain West but do they let the Aztecs go and if so where they go? The Pac-12 makes sense because of UCLA and USC’s move to the Big Ten, which creates a need for a southern California school in the conference. The Big 12 makes more sense in some ways because they already have a new television deal. We will have to wait and see if the Aztecs are offered a spot by Yormark.
7.Gonzaga
The Bulldogs are an interesting case. Head men’s basketball coach Mark Few has done everything except win the national title. With Yormark’s want to expand the conference, create new TV windows at night out west with potential new members like Gonzaga or San Diego State, and for basketball dominance, Gonzaga fits. However, without a football program, and the difficulty of the basketball conference top to bottom, they will not be at the top of the invite list just yet.
