The Big 12 will not add Gonzaga and UConn, two basketball powerhouses, after initial conversations about the potential moves, commissioner Brett Yormark said Wednesday.
Yormark joined John Ourand and Andrew Marchand on the “Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast” to discuss the conference’s evolution after the Big 12 recently added former Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado. Last year, the Big 12 announced the additions of Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU.
The commissioner said talks about possibly adding Gonzaga, a West Coast Conference powerhouse, and UConn, the reigning national champion in men’s basketball and the most dominant force in women’s basketball over the past 20 years, have ended due to those recent expansion moves.
“I did have conversations with UConn and Gonzaga, and unfortunately, things didn’t work out, only because the dream scenario unfolded for us, so those conversations are no longer,” Yormark said on the podcast. “I’m a big admirer of both of those programs. They’re fantastic for all the right reasons, but I’m focused on the transition of those four…
