Big 12 Still Looking For Expansion Following Longhorns, Sooners Departure

Brett Yormark joined the Big 12 as the next commissioner to bring the conference to national relevance. He intends to follow through on that commitment even with the departures of Texas and Oklahoma.

Yormark reaffirmed the conference's interest in expansion Friday during the Big 12 meetings in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Entering his second year as commissioner, Yormark reiterated his desire to have a true "nation-wide footprint" that could span from coast to coast no earlier than 2025.

"As I've said all along, we have an appetite to be a national conference in our makeup from coast to coast," Yormark told reporters. "We love our current composition, love the four new schools who are coming in next month. However, if the opportunity presented itself to create value, we would pursue it."

The Big 12 will officially welcome Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF from the American Conference and independent BYU as the newest members on July 1. Attention, for now, is on making sure the four new programs translate to the conference with ease for the start of the 2023 regular season.

Big 12's Brett Yormark: "We had a great discussion about expansion & have a plan. We have an appetite to be a national conference. We believe in upside of basketball. ... If opportunity presents itself to create value, we will pursue (expansion). it is a focus of ours"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 2, 2023

Since Yormark's arrival, rumors have circulated that the expansion would soon follow. According to CBS Sports, the "Four Corner" schools of the Pac-12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah) seem to be the prime target for westward expansion, especially with the uncertainty surrounding the conference's future.

The Pac-12, which current media rights are set to expire in 2024, has yet to ink a new deal with any streaming platform entering the final college football season. Both flagship schools USC and UCLA will also depart the conference next season to become the 15th and 16th members of the Big Ten.

Yormark isn't looking just at football for conference expansion. Last season, it was rumored that Gonzaga could leave the West Coast Conference (WCC) if offered a spot in the Big 12. During league meetings this week, it was reported that defending national champion UConn was also on the conference's radar, though it is unclear if the football and baseball programs would be extended an invite as well.

“We do believe in the upside of basketball moving forward as a collective group," Yormark said. "We think it’s undervalued. There’s a chance for us to double down as the No. 1 basketball conference in America, but football is the driver and we all know that. We’re going to consider all options.”

One of the critical reasons for Yormark's aggressive approach to expansion is national recognition. With the addition of BYU, Big 12 games will be played in three different time zones on Saturdays and during basketball season. Yormark is looking for the "fourth window" or teams in the Pacific time zone range in hopes of broadcasting late-night games.

While the ACC and Pac-12 are more established, both conferences are going through personal trials that could make the Big 12 college football's next mega-conference. A selling point for programs on the fence about remaining with their respective conference could be the surplus in revenue.

The Big 12 announced Friday it had distributed approximately $440 million in revenue across the 2022-23 fiscal year, which will be split equally among its 10 current schools. The average distribution ranks No. 3 among FBS conferences, trailing the SEC and Big Ten.

"That will continue to grow in the future,” Yormark said of future revenue earnings with the addition of four new seasons.

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