There won’t be another Power Five school in the Northeast, not anytime soon at least. UConn’s hopes of landing a spot in the Big 12 as part of the fallout of the most recent round of conference expansion appears to be dead on arrival.
UConn is mired in no man’s land in terms of football, having been a part of the old Big East when Rutgers was a member. Rutgers left for the Big Ten in 2014.
In a recent interview with Andrew Marchand, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said that UConn was in the mix for their next round of conference expansion. Not anymore, Yormark told Marchand.
The Big 12 recently expanded to include Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. This follows after Oregon and Washington defected to join the Big Ten.
UConn is currently an independent in football and a member of the Big East in all other sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.
“I did have conversations with UConn and Gonzaga and unfortunately, things didn’t work out only because the dream scenario unfolded for us,” Yormark told Marchand.
“So those conversations are no longer. I’m a big admirer of both those programs, they’re fantastic for all the right reasons. But right now, I’m focusing on the transition of those four in right now
“And also how do I leverage the fact that I’m a 16-team league in 10 states with 90 million people in four different time zones. So that’s my focus right now.”
NEW POD
The 5 biggest stories of our first 100 shows and The Big Get is Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark.https://t.co/Th7VOeVUQG pic.twitter.com/nOsonYRTsS— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) August 16, 2023
UConn football raised some eyebrows last year, its first under head coach Jim Mora. They went 6-7 and lost in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to Marshall.
It was the first bowl game appearance for UConn since 2015.
Last year, UConn’s men’s basketball team won the NCAA Tournament. It was their fifth national championship.
They also have very strong Olympic sports.
[lawrence-related id=29235,29233]