Sources: UConn in early talks for joining Big 12

The Big 12 is in talks with UConn about joining the league in all sports, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

No vote has occurred for a potential Huskies membership, nor is one close to happening, as sources cautioned that there has been pushback among several members that would need to be overcome.

The talks have advanced to the point where UConn athletic director David Benedict and board chair Daniel Toscano met with Big 12 athletic directors in person in Dallas last week to make their case, sources told ESPN. The conversations centered around football funding and how UConn could be competitive upon joining the league in 2031, sources said.

Part of UConn’s presentation covered how the Huskies would be prepared to build and spend money on football like the current Big 12 programs, according to sources. They also pitched the league on how quickly they became competitive in the Big East football conference after joining in 2004.

A Big 12 board call is being planned for next week with the league’s presidents that would lay out the specific deal points, according to sources.

“I think the word is ‘premature,'” a high-ranking Big 12 official said. “There’s a far distance between conversations and anything that would happen. The presidents haven’t seen the case yet.”

The addition would be for all sports, and the delay to 2031 in football would give UConn a chance to catch up in terms of funding and a talent upgrade through NIL. The Athletic first reported that potential board call and the talks.

The other sports, including UConn’s dominant basketball programs, would be added whenever UConn could negotiate or wait out the 27-month waiting period to exit the league.

Sources cautioned there is a lot more to dive into for future talks, as the votes to add UConn have yet to be solidified. While some schools are in favor of adding the Huskies, multiple athletic directors within the league have been outspoken against it, sources told ESPN. Several others are undecided. The ultimate vote would come down to 12 of 16 of the league’s presidents.

Some of the pushback is due to the timing of the discussions, as league officials are busy dealing with the House vs. NCAA settlement. There are also questions about how much the move would benefit the conference in football.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has been bullish on basketball being more of a financial driver for the league’s television contracts in upcoming years. UConn is the sport’s dominant program and touches the country’s top market, with a strong presence in the New York area. UConn is coming off back-to-back national titles in men’s basketball and has boasted the country’s best brand in women’s basketball for the past generation. UConn’s resurgence in men’s basketball has come under coach Dan Hurley and coincided with the school rejoining the Big East for the 2020-21 season after playing in the American Athletic Conference from 2013-14 through 2019-20.

The Big 12 has consistently been one of the country’s top basketball leagues, and adding UConn would potentially bolster that reputation.

The 16-team Big 12 added four new members — Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF — last year and will welcome Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State this year.

Yormark has been bullish on expansion. He outmaneuvered Pac-12 officials to re-up the league’s television deal to secure the Big 12’s future soon after taking over as commissioner in 2022. He also leveraged that secure future to add the four former Pac-12 programs.

Yormark also pushed hard early on in his tenure to add Gonzaga in basketball, though that did not come to fruition.