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Message: [QUOTE="huskymedic, post: 4693318, member: 549"] [MEDIA=twitter]1679294583270699008[/MEDIA] -> In his second Big 12 football media days address, commissioner Brett Yormark was slightly more understated on the podium. But rest assured, the aggressive commish has no expansionist chill behind the scenes. The lean, cocksure 56-year-old is pursuing deals the way he attacks the Peloton leaderboard every morning. That should keep conferences on both coasts nervous. The Pac-12, still meandering toward a media-rights agreement? Keep your members close, especially Colorado. The Big East, lucratively reunited in recent years with 2023 men’s basketball national champion Connecticut? Check in on your Huskies. Nothing may come of this. The Pac-12 may finally secure a media deal that keeps its remaining 10 schools in the fold and stabilizes the league. The Big 12 membership may resist overtures to UConn, which is a tough sell geographically and as a football contributor. But rest assured, Yormark is taking a year of positive momentum and doubling down on his efforts to elevate the Big 12 in the Power 5 hierarchy. <- -> “We have a plan for expansion,” Yormark said on the podium. “I’m not going to really address it today. Hopefully we can execute it sooner than later. If we stay at 12, we’re perfectly fine with that. … If within the value equation there’s alignment (to add members), Power Five or non-Power Five, we’ll look to pursue it.” Plan A might be plundering two to four teams from the Pac-12. Plan B might be a Colorado-UConn power play—but if Colorado is a non-starter, that probably ends the scenario. Non-football aspirations could involve St. John’s, which has the big-dollar booster backing of Vitamin Water founder Mike Repole and just landed Rick Pitino as its coach. They could involve Gonzaga, the hoops power of the Pacific Northwest, which would get the Big 12 into all four time zones and at least partially fulfill pursuit of a coast-to-coast conference. And, dare to dream, should the Big 12 continue to pursue an NYC presence, grabbing Syracuse in the fallout from an Atlantic Coast Conference breakup could be a (far) down-the-road idea. Between UConn, St. John’s and Syracuse, the Big 12 could actually deliver a decent slice of the New York City market—at least in one sport. <- -> The way to read that in Pac-12 territory: better get that media deal done, and it better be good. The way to read that in the Big East: UConn is a great fit, but perhaps not a forever fit. <- [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach