Big 12 pauses UConn’s bid to join conference

HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever UConn Athletic Director David Benedict.

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The University of Connecticut’s hopes for its athletic teams to join a major NCAA conference have been put on hold once again.

Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark issued a statement Thursday updating the progress of discussions among member schools about extending an invitation to UConn to join the conference, saying all sides have “jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time.”

Yormark added that the conference will “instead focus our attention and resources to ushering in this new era of college athletics.”

UConn Athletic Director David Benedict emailed a letter to UConn fans Thursday, asking them to remain patient.

“Undoubtedly, many of you have followed recent media reports about the Big 12’s renewed interest in UConn as a conference member,” Benedict wrote. “It is always our objective to put UConn in the very best position for future success, so we did engage in exploratory dialogue with the Big 12. Ultimately, the Big 12 determined that it will pause on conversations about membership expansion.”

Benedict and other school officials reportedly attended the annual meeting of Big 12 athletic directors in Dallas in July. According to published reports, they presented UConn’s case for joining the conference, including offering information on how the school would invest in its football program to make it competitive at that level.

The 2024 season is the Big 12’s first as a 16-team league following the addition of four Pac-12 teams this summer. The Big 12 now spans 10 states and four time zones as it joins other Power 5 conferences in seeking a coast-to-coast footprint to improve media rights fees.

The expanded conference placed five football teams in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25, its first season with five ranked teams since 2017.

In contrast, the Huskies’ football program has fallen on hard times since former coach Randy Edsall left after the 2010 season, when UConn lost to Oklahoma 48-20 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish at 8-5.

In the 12 seasons since (the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the team has not had a winning season and has played in just two minor bowl games, losing both.

Starting with the 2011 season, the team is 40-106, a .274 winning percentage. It opened its 2024 campaign with a humiliating 50-7 loss to Maryland.

Published reports have said that the deal discussed for UConn to join the Big 12 would have brought the football team, which currently plays as an independent school, into the league in 2031, when the conference’s current $2 billion media rights deal is due to expire. Other UConn sports teams would have joined the conference sooner, according to reports.

Joining a power conference is a key issue for UConn because of the significant boost in revenue from media rights. According to FrontOfficeSports.com, the four new Big 12 schools each receive $18 million, while the rest of the schools receive nearly $40 million each.

UConn received $6.7 million from the Big East in 2023.

In addition, its athletic department continues to run a deficit. According to the school, it expects the department to be $70 million in the red in fiscal year 2025.

This is at least the third time the Huskies have been denied the opportunity to join the Big 12. Last August, Yormark said the Big 12 had considered extending invitations to both UConn and Gonzaga University, but that never happened. In part, that was because of the breakup of the Pac-12, which saw Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah jump to the Big 12.

UConn also made a bid to join the conference in 2016.

Benedict said the pause offers “all who care deeply about the Huskies” to take the time to reflect.

“Certainly, it is flattering to be courted; it says a lot about UConn and what others think of us,” he wrote. “Further, we have enjoyed tremendous success since our return to the Big East in 2020, which has included 36 conference championships (across all conferences in which we are affiliated) and, of course, our back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball titles.”

He added, “No matter our conference home, our mission has been, and will always be, to provide an exceptional academic and athletic experience to the outstanding young men and women who proudly wear the UConn uniform.”