Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[nelsonmuntz]

Well, it appears they're moving into survival mode themselves

Only two conferences stand as the king of the hill, SEC & B10. Everyone else is in the state of fluctuation. Except for maybe the Big East

There is a meaningful probability that football eventually breaks off and has its entire own set of rules and conferences.

Yet most of this board is proposing that UConn move ALL sports to a flyover league that is about to lose its two highest profile programs because that league happens to have a big contract, for now. What happens if football breaks off and sets up its own conferences and eligibility rules? UConn is in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech for women's basketball and field hockey, etc.

There will never be a P2 for basketball, especially if one of those two is the SEC. It will simply never happen. So everyone using that as a bogeyman to justify joining the Big 12 is either disingenuous or stupid, or both.

I would be fine with joining the ACC and Big 10 for all sports, but the Big 12 seems crazy. Just wait a few years. The conference landscape is going to change, and I think the chances of football breaking off is much higher than the Big 12 surviving as part of a "P3" with the Big 10 and SEC. Yet most of this board would bet UConn's entire athletic future on being in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech. These are the same "football drives the bus" people that thought being in a league with Tulane and Tulsa was the way to go.

Whoever said that the Big East will NEVER let us back if we leave was 100% right. If we are going to leave, it better be for a higher potential option than the mud hut that the Big 12 Commissioner is putting together. That is going to fail, and when it does, it will be the end of UConn athletics if UConn has joined it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Honestly, if the ACC was smart, they would just vote to let all their football programs leave and reform a new conference. This would get them out of the ESPN clusterfudge and still maintain their conference for all other sports.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I wonder if UConn is doing this to try to get an ACC invitation.

 

[Kolumbo]

If the ACC 7 split, pick up the remnants and add Temple.

4 hoops pods, play within pod twice and other pods once for a 18 game conference schedule.

• UConn, Providence, Boston College, Seton Hall, Temple
• Villanova, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Syracuse, St. John's
• DePaul, Marquette, Butler, Creighton, Xavier
• Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake, Louisville, Pitt

Football:

• Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt, Wake, UConn, Villanova, Temple

You lost me at BCU. If we are talking about the Big East inviting remnants, BCU will rot in the NE-10 before I vote to let them in.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Kansas isn’t that surprising when you think about the fact that it is the state university of…Kansas.

But they’re AAU and do have a lengthy history, so I guess that leads to giving the benefit of a doubt. I never thought they were some public Ivy but not in the 100s

 

[bendm]

https://247sports.com/article/acc-realignment-league-considered-at-least-four-

WVU, SMU, Washington and Oregon. UConn still not getting an invite to the ACC

 

[bendm]

There is a meaningful probability that football eventually breaks off and has its entire own set of rules and conferences.

Yet most of this board is proposing that UConn move ALL sports to a flyover league that is about to lose its two highest profile programs because that league happens to have a big contract, for now.

but why not cash $30 million checks every year until then?

Being in the big12 will also give UConn a better chance of being included in the conference that gets cobbled together among the schools from the big12 and acc that don’t get invited to the breakaway football division, which will be most of them.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Which conference has divisions?

The SEC has east and west divisions the Big 10 has 2 also

 

[Ratso]

every major conference wants the nyc market

 

[hank970]

But they’re AAU and do have a lengthy history, so I guess that leads to giving the benefit of a doubt. I never thought they were some public Ivy but not in the 100s

Though Kansas was a founding member of the AAU, its current status is a bit tenuous. A lot of non-AAU schools have far better metrics. Does the AAU make an allowance for Kansas for old time's sake, or does Kansas quietly go the way of Syracuse and Nebraska? UAB, NC State, Cincy, VT, and several others are knocking on the door.

 

[bendm]

The SEC has east and west divisions the Big 10 has 2 also

ACC and PAC also have divisions. The only one that doesn’t is the big12

 

[bendm]

Which conference has divisions?

Have you ever looked at college football standings on espn?

 

[Ratso]

two words: rick pitino

other conferences are terrified re: the bball market which is still big in college sports

football try to expand the final 8 can’t compete with march madness’s

 

[Rocktheworld]

two words: rick pitino

other conferences are terrified re: the bball market which is still big in college sports

football try to expand the final 8 can’t compete with march madness’s

This is one of the more incoherent posts I’ve seen here in a bit

 

[Zissou]

Bottom line is if the ACC dissolved all of those schools are going to try to maintain their "Power" status by being in an auto-bid league so your football league proposal will be a non-starter. A majority of those schools will certainly be enticing for the B12, which really highlights why UCONN cannot reject a B12 offer, it may be our last chance to ever secure a seat at the big money football table.

UConn also tried to maintain its “power” status. It’s not always about what you want, but what you get.

 

[superjohn]

Kansas isn’t that surprising when you think about the fact that it is the state university of…Kansas.

Stupid post.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Stupid post.

Kansas is one of the worst states in the country. That its flagship is flailing follows naturally.

 

[Ratso]

This is one of the more incoherent posts I’ve seen here in a bit

I am on my 7th draft wine…it’s a garnacha

 

[upstater]

I don’t think WV, Cincy, or UCF would prefer to change, and I don’t think the B12 would want all of these ACC leftovers

You can't see how the remaining ACC schools have a huge demographic and brand advantage over the B12 schools? The money is with the ACC schools even after they lose 3 or 4

 

[aburks41]

Though Kansas was a founding member of the AAU, its current status is a bit tenuous. A lot of non-AAU schools have far better metrics. Does the AAU make an allowance for Kansas for old time's sake, or does Kansas quietly go the way of Syracuse and Nebraska? UAB, NC State, Cincy, VT, and several others are knocking on the door.

Takes 2/3rds vote to kick someone out of AAU. Nebraska is the only school to ever get expelled from it lol

 

[HuskyHawk]

Kansas isn’t that surprising when you think about the fact that it is the state university of…Kansas.

The state has a law, which more states should, requiring them to admit anyone in state who applies and has a certain GPA and test score. So they can‘t game USNWR like most schools do. It also means lots of freshmen can’t handle the work, which also hurts for USNWR when they transfer or drop out.

The sooner people realize USNWR is utter garbage the better. AAU status is worse because like UConn the med school is off campus and can’t be counted.

One of Cincinnati’s biggest contributors on the research side is the med school. NSF – NCSES Academic Institution Profiles – U. Cincinnati : Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2021–12

 

[HuskyHawk]

Kansas is one of the worst states in the country. That its flagship is flailing follows naturally.

Even more stupid post.

 

[Ratso]

uconn is big east basketball,

d00.k, kansas , ??? want to join BE basketball

 

[Sole]

If uconn is in the big east and Hurley is our coach… we will continue to be one of the best basketball teams in the country… along with selling out our two venues and exciting basketball.. if we lose either of those two.. im not sure what to expect

 

[Kolumbo]

There is a meaningful probability that football eventually breaks off and has its entire own set of rules and conferences.

Yet most of this board is proposing that UConn move ALL sports to a flyover league that is about to lose its two highest profile programs because that league happens to have a big contract, for now. What happens if football breaks off and sets up its own conferences and eligibility rules? UConn is in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech for women's basketball and field hockey, etc.

There will never be a P2 for basketball, especially if one of those two is the SEC. It will simply never happen. So everyone using that as a bogeyman to justify joining the Big 12 is either disingenuous or stupid, or both.

I would be fine with joining the ACC and Big 10 for all sports, but the Big 12 seems crazy. Just wait a few years. The conference landscape is going to change, and I think the chances of football breaking off is much higher than the Big 12 surviving as part of a "P3" with the Big 10 and SEC. Yet most of this board would bet UConn's entire athletic future on being in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech. These are the same "football drives the bus" people that thought being in a league with Tulane and Tulsa was the way to go.

Whoever said that the Big East will NEVER let us back if we leave was 100% right. If we are going to leave, it better be for a higher potential option than the mud hut that the Big 12 Commissioner is putting together. That is going to fail, and when it does, it will be the end of UConn athletics if UConn has joined it.

Football should eventually break off but I don't get the impression that there is a meaningful probability of that happening. If football does split off, does UCLA stay in the B1G all sports? Does Rutgers olympic sports get kicked to the turnpike? Does UCF get to keep its poor excuse for basketball in the Big 12? I'm curious how football splitting off would change current structures and future structures. If it comes to pass, take the Big 12 invite and worry about the HUGE changes later because chances are, more decisions will need to be made down the line.

WVU and Cincy are major draws because both are very good basketball and football programs and are old Big East rivals. Throw in the Kansases, Iowa State, Okie State, and the potential for the addition of a couple of closer rivals, and I am very fine with the Big 12. Yes indeed.

The Big 12 dog and pony show back in 2016, and now a visit by Yormark to the UConn campus. I'm just not sure what is happening at this point.

From 2016

Big 12 Records | University of Connecticut

UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference In association with the University of Connecticut's p ... February 21, 2026

uconn.edu

 

[jostar1]

I wonder if UConn is doing this to try to get an ACC invitation.

Doing what? Paying him to tweet that?

 

[wingsfan055]

No choice but to join a Power 5. Or, we have no UConn football. big 12 is the worst of the 5. I would choose the SEC, just to see Alabama vs UConn football in CT.

 

[Billy Jack]

Is it really recency bias though? They've been the #1 conference on KenPom 8 of the last 10 years. They were #2 the 2 years they weren't at the top, which was the cancelled NCAA tournament year when they had 2 of the top 3 teams, and the year Baylor steamrolled Gonzaga and won a national championship

The problem with looking at the last 10 years of Big 12 basketball is that it included Oklahoma and Texas, which are not only top football schools but which have also been very good basketball schools in that decade. Texas average rank in Ken Pom at season’s end is 34.2 and Oklahoma’s is 35.5. Replacing them with UCF, Cincy, Houston, and BYU weakens Big XII basketball.they are not the same conference going forward as they have been.

The other problem with Ken Pom’s ranking the Big XII as the best basketball conference is that it’s based on computer analysis of the entire season. Because college sports is about developing players and teams over the course of a year to championship competition at the end of the season, performance in the tournament matters more than what teams did early in the season. The Big XII has simply not played like the best conference in March. Here are their teams who have reached the Final Four over the past decade:

2013 -
2014 -
2015 -
2016 - Oklahoma (leaving)
2017 -
2018 - Kansas
2019 - Texas Tech
2020 - CANCELLED
2021 - Baylor
2022 - Kansas
2023 -

I went back to 2013 to have 10 tournaments. 5 teams to the Final Four and 2 national champs doesn’t strike me as what I would expect of the best conference in the country. In contrast, the ACC sent 9 teams to the Final 4 and won 3 national champs in that same decade. The Big East went to 5 Final 4’s and won 4 national champs in the same decade.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

There is a meaningful probability that football eventually breaks off and has its entire own set of rules and conferences.

Yet most of this board is proposing that UConn move ALL sports to a flyover league that is about to lose its two highest profile programs because that league happens to have a big contract, for now. What happens if football breaks off and sets up its own conferences and eligibility rules? UConn is in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech for women's basketball and field hockey, etc.

There will never be a P2 for basketball, especially if one of those two is the SEC. It will simply never happen. So everyone using that as a bogeyman to justify joining the Big 12 is either disingenuous or stupid, or both.

I would be fine with joining the ACC and Big 10 for all sports, but the Big 12 seems crazy. Just wait a few years. The conference landscape is going to change, and I think the chances of football breaking off is much higher than the Big 12 surviving as part of a "P3" with the Big 10 and SEC. Yet most of this board would bet UConn's entire athletic future on being in a league with Iowa State and Texas Tech. These are the same "football drives the bus" people that thought being in a league with Tulane and Tulsa was the way to go.

Whoever said that the Big East will NEVER let us back if we leave was 100% right. If we are going to leave, it better be for a higher potential option than the mud hut that the Big 12 Commissioner is putting together. That is going to fail, and when it does, it will be the end of UConn athletics if UConn has joined it.

This is the most reasoned out, dead-on assessment of the shaky ground and uncertainty that lies ahead for the Big 12. And why it’d be an incredibly ignorant, head buried in the sand, move for UConn to make.

 

[kcc1442]

The problem with looking at the last 10 years of Big 12 basketball is that it included Oklahoma and Texas, which are not only top football schools but which have also been very good basketball schools in that decade. Texas average rank in Ken Pom at season’s end is 34.2 and Oklahoma’s is 35.5. Replacing them with UCF, Cincy, Houston, and BYU weakens Big XII basketball.they are not the same conference going forward as they have been.

The other problem with Ken Pom’s ranking the Big XII as the best basketball conference is that it’s based on computer analysis of the entire season. Because college sports is about developing players and teams over the course of a year to championship competition at the end of the season, performance in the tournament matters more than what teams did early in the season. The Big XII has simply not played like the best conference in March. Here are their teams who have reached the Final Four over the past decade:

2013 -
2014 -
2015 -
2016 - Oklahoma (leaving)
2017 -
2018 - Kansas
2019 - Texas Tech
2020 - CANCELLED
2021 - Baylor
2022 - Kansas
2023 -

I went back to 2013 to have 10 tournaments. 5 teams to the Final Four and 2 national champs doesn’t strike me as what I would expect of the best conference in the country. In contrast, the ACC sent 9 teams to the Final 4 and won 3 national champs in that same decade. The Big East went to 5 Final 4’s and won 4 national champs in the same decade.

What is Houston's average EOY rank in Kenpom in the last 10 years?