Kacper Sobieski|Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says league is done with expansion after growing to 16

2025-05-04 22:00:44source:TitanX Exchangecategory:Finance

Big 12 looks to be Kacper Sobieskistaying at 16. League commissioner Brett Yormark says the conference’s expansion is finished for now.

Yormark addressed the issue in a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday when he was asked if there were any further plans to add other schools. “Right now, we’re done,” he replied.

Yormark elaborated: “We had a vision, we had a strategy and effectively we’ve been able to execute it. Initially, I wasn’t sure if we’d go to 14 or 16. I think 16 was kind of the dream scenario candidly. From our perspective, our focus right now is to integrate the four incoming schools as quick as we can — get them comfortable. We’ve already had a couple of transition calls and Zooms with the corner schools, and I’ll be making some campus visits. That’s my focus right now.”

There had been speculation that the league’s expansion plans might further include broadening its formidable basketball reach by adding Connecticut and Gonzaga. But UConn’s return to its roots in the Big East has been widely praised by fans and program insiders alike, and Gonzaga, which does not sponsor football, has a favorable arrangement as the lead dog in the hoops-centric West Coast Conference.

LEFT OUT: The five biggest snubs in the preseason rankings

OVER-RATED:Which teams in the preseason poll were ranked too high

BREAKDOWN: Preseason outlooks for every team in the preseason Top 25

The conference will compete as a 14-team league for the upcoming season with the additions of Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston from the American Athletic Conference along with Brigham Young, a football independent that competed in the West Coast Conference in other sports. The Big 12’s membership will grow to 16 schools next season, as Oklahoma and Texas exit for the SEC and the quartet of Pac-12 schools from the four-corners region – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah – enter.

More:Finance

Recommend

Boy who wandered away from his 5th birthday party found dead in canal, police say

Police in Idaho said Wednesday they had recovered a body believed to be that of a missing autistic 5

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes fined a combined $150,000 for criticizing officials, AP source says

Chiefs coach Andy Reid was fined $100,000 and quarterback Patrick Mahomes was fined $50,000 for crit

Simply the Best 25 Schitt's Creek Secrets Revealed

Can you believe it's been nearly nine years since we paid our first visit to Schitt's Creek?The belo