Big 12 commissioner: Expansion talks with UConn on pause

The Big 12 Conference and UConn have ended engagement about the Huskies potentially joining the conference, commissioner Brett Yormark said Thursday.

"As Commissioner, it is my responsibility to explore a variety of value-creating opportunities on behalf of the Big 12," Yormark said, per CBS Sports. "Following detailed discussions with my conference colleagues alongside UConn leadership, we have jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time. We will instead focus our attention and resources to ushering in this new era of college athletics."

With a recent influx of teams including Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, the Big 12 is up to 16 member schools.

ESPN reported last month that UConn athletic director David Benedict and board chair Daniel Toscano traveled to Dallas to meet with Big 12 athletic directors and discuss how the school would be willing to invest in its football program to bring it up to par with the conference's other teams. All other sports reportedly would have been ready to leave the Big East for the Big 12 by 2026 with football to follow.

"Undoubtedly, many of you have followed recent media reports about the Big 12's renewed interest in UConn as a conference member," Benedict said as part of a statement issued Thursday. "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."

That's great news for the Big East, which, at least for now, will hold on to two of the biggest brands in college sports -- UConn men's basketball and women's basketball.

Men's coach Dan Hurley's Huskies are the reigning back-to-back national champions, while Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn women to 11 national titles.

--Field Level Media