Colorado's return to the Big 12 is officially official, the conference oddly channeling Michael Jordan to herald the Buffaloes' return to a conference they competed in from its 1996 inception through the 2010 football season.
And so the question now becomes: Who's next?
The conference will not stay at 13, plotting to grow to 14 and even considering 16 if the right three dance partners take the floor.
Speculation now turns to the remaining three Four Corners schools -- Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
To these eyes, Utah is the most attractive of the three. Not only are the Utes the two-time defending Pac-12 champions, they are a contiguous state with Colorado and bring a pre-existing rivalry with BYU. However, Utah president Taylor Randall has been among the most outwardly-supportive of his colleagues toward the Utes' conference.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Randall said on Salt Lake City radio back in March. “I like what I’m hearing coming out of our commissioner’s office and where the negotiations are. We’ve still got a ways to go. But I think you’ve got some solidarity with the remaining schools and in the presidents room in particular.”
Arizona's Robert C. Robbins has been the most -- how shall we put this -- ambivalent toward the Pac-12's long-awaited Pac-12 TV deal. “All I keep saying is, you know, we’re just waiting to get a deal,” he told The Athletic following Colorado's exit. “And then everybody has to evaluate the deal on its merits. I’ve been pretty steadfast in that stance.”
Perhaps landing Arizona nets the Big 12 Arizona State, and perhaps getting both Arizona schools also lands Utah.
However, in the event the Big 12's Westward raid begins and ends in Boulder, Plan B is clear: UConn.
Both Sports Illustrated and The Athletic reported this week that the Huskies would be next on the list to become Big 12 Member 14.
Writes Max Olson for The Athletic:
Yormark sees an entry point into New York City. He sees a dominant basketball conference and big-time events at Madison Square Garden. He sees a future in which the Big 12 makes more money down the road by decoupling its media rights package and selling its basketball rights separately. Conference sources say he sees a sort of buy-low opportunity here, a bet that the Big 12 investing in UConn over the rest of the decade will drive up the conference’s value. For him, there’s no hesitation. There’s real conviction.
I'm on record here as against a UConn addition and skeptical of Yormark's reasoning. Basketball may very well be undervalued, but UConn football is 37-97 since winning the Big East in 2010. The Huskies did reach a bowl game after a 6-6 regular season in Year 2 Year 1 under head coach Jim Mora, ending a string of three straight 10-plus loss seasons. 2010 also happens to be the last time UConn lost less than fewer seven games in a season.
More pressing, UConn voluntarily left the American, in the process orphaning its football program, in order to put its Olympic sports in the new-look Big East.
Beyond UConn, the operative question is whether adding the Huskies truly "wins" the New York market for the Big 12. The Big Ten used the same thinking to grab Rutgers a decade ago, but that was in a different era when cable subscriptions mattered. The Big 12 does not have its own network.
The question is this: Would bringing UConn into the fold make New Yorkers more likely to watch UCF-Kansas State?
For what it's worth, SI reports that at least some Big 12 members need convincing.
The league membership is less united behind the idea of adding a primarily basketball school like UConn than it was Colorado, though, which could slow the pace there. “There is some work to do on studying UConn,” a Big 12 source says.
SI also echoed reports that Yormark has eyes on basketball-only additions of Gonzaga and St. John's, which could be key to down-the-road international expansion. No word on if Tokyo University's basketball squad has Sweet 16 potential.
The Big 12 reportedly gave Colorado an Aug. 1 deadline to make a decision, so expect the conference to move equally swift in landing the Wildcats, Sun Devils, Utes or Huskies in order to even up its numbers in time for the 2024 football season.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.