Pac-12 expansion candidates: UConn Huskies

The rebuilt Pac-12 has eight members signed up for the 2026-27 athletics season: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Washington State and Utah State.

The conference must attract at least one more football-playing member before 2026 to reach the NCAA’s eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference. Gonzaga does not have a football program.

The Pac-12, which poached five teams from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference, is expected to add between one and six additional members in the coming weeks and months.

As conference realignment wages on, Boise State Broncos on SI is taking a look at schools that have been linked to the Pac-12 in various reports.

We have already covered the Memphis Tigers, North Texas Mean Green, Rice Owls, Sacramento State Hornets, Saint Mary’s Gaels, South Florida Bulls, Texas State Bobcats and Tulane Green Wave. Now we will head way outside of the Pac-12’s current footprint to profile the UConn Huskies.

University of Connecticut

Location: Storrs, Connecticut

Current conference: Big East Conference (independent in football)

Enrollment: 32,669

Endowment: $634 million

Athletics budget: $96,742,518

Football stadium: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field (40,642 capacity)

Basketball arena: Gampel Pavilion (10,167 capacity) and XL Center (15,684 capacity)

The case for UConn

The Pac-12 is aiming to be a premier conference in men’s basketball, and UConn might be the country’s biggest basketball brand at the moment.

Head coach Dan Hurley has guided UConn to back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles. The Huskies, a six-time national champion, have spent most of the 2024-25 season inside the top 25 as they look to three-peat.

On the women’s basketball front, UConn is also a national power with 11 championships under legendary coach Geno Auriemma.

Jim Mora is leading a UConn football resurgence, including a 9-4 overall record in 2024. Mora recently agreed to a contract extension that will pay him an average of $2.5 million through 2028.

UConn’s facilities are top-notch, and the Huskies receive plenty of coverage from nearby major media.

The case against UConn

Recycle the same arguments against South Florida, but with even more vigor.

Connecticut is simply too far outside of the Pac-12’s current footprint for the Huskies to be an expansion candidate. And unlike Florida, the Northeast is not a recruiting hotbed.

Back in June, the Big East agreed to a new lucrative television deal for basketball that runs through 2031. It would not make sense for UConn to walk away from that deal.

The Huskies reportedly turned down a football-only offer from the Pac-12 in October. As a football independent, UConn could be added with no exit fees. But the Huskies passed, opting to maintain independence moving forward.

UConn’s decision makes sense for both sides as the Huskies are historically poor in football and would be an extreme geographic outlier.

Verdict

In a mid-January radio interview with Portland-based host John Canzano, Oregon State men’s basketball coach Wayne Tinkle said “There was one particular school that was 24 hours away from joining (the Pac-12) … that would’ve sent shockwaves.”

Tinkle didn’t identify the school, but how many additions would send shockwaves?

Saint Mary’s? More of a small ripple. Memphis or UConn? Definitely shockwaves.

UConn as a football-only member makes no sense for the Pac-12. None. The conference would be better off adding New Mexico State.

But if all sports are on the table, UConn basketball is a big enough brand to get the Pac-12’s attention. Boise State Broncos on SI does not believe all sports are on the table, so UConn should be a hard pass for Pac-12 membership.

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