The Big 12 could have owned the Final Four, but football is the only sport that really matters
Aug. 17—The Big 12 is no longer in talks to add Gonzaga and UConn after the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, Commissioner Brett Yormark said on the "Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast."
"I did have conversations with UConn and Gonzaga, and unfortunately, things didn't work out because the dream scenario unfolded for us," Yormark said. "I'm a big admirer of those programs. They're fantastic for all the right reasons, but right now I'm focused on the transition of those four in and also how do I leverage the fact that I'm now a 16-team league in 10 states with 90 million people in four different time zones."
Yormark also said basketball is undervalued in expansion considerations.
"We are the deepest conference, I think, in America when it comes to football," he said. "Arguably, we are the No. 1 conference in basketball, and I'm excited about that.
It'd be inarguable with a men's Elite Eight field containing UConn, Kansas, Baylor, Houston, Gonzaga and Texas Tech. The Big 12 could've had a better shot to be the first conference to have every men's Final Four team.
Yet, its expansion stops before UConn, the defending men's basketball champion and the most successful women's basketball program of all time, and Gonzaga, which has gone to the Sweet Sixteen or further eight years in a row. This is because "they're fantastic for all the right reasons," except one.
They aren't football schools.
The football program at UConn made $12.1 million in revenue last season. That's a whopping 36 percent less than West Virginia's $19 million — by far the lowest in the Big 12.
Why would the Big 12 presidents and athletic directors want to share revenue with that program? West Virginia is in danger of one day getting dropped from the conference as it is (that's a story no one's talking about but one for another time).
As for Gonzaga, there hasn't been a Bulldog football team since 1941.
The ACC's gainThe other notable soundbite to come out of Yormark's appearance on the "Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast" was regarding a conversation he had with Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. The Big 12's expansion combined with Oregon and Washington's departure to the Big 10 seems to have dismantled the Pac-12.
"I still have a little bit of a knot in my stomach," Yormark said. "I never want my gain to be anyone else's loss. On the heels of not just Colorado but of all Four Corner Schools coming, I texted George, reached out to him and effectively I said, 'I'm sorry it came down to this and I'm sorry I put you in a tough position, but this was something that we had to do.'"
While the Big 12's reluctance to add UConn is neither a gain nor a loss for either side, it could be a win for the ACC.
Florida State administrators have voiced their desire to leave the ACC, and a move could start an exodus that includes its football powerhouse, Clemson.
Much like when the Big 12 was desperate when Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC, the ACC could try to pick up schools as quickly as possible.
Wouldn't it be great for college basketball fans if all three east coast blue bloods, UConn, Duke and North Carolina, all shared a conference? Plus, the Huskies could regularly play their top rival in Syracuse.
Marcus Trevino is a sports reporter for The Stillwater News Press. He can be contacted at mtrevino@stwnewspress.com.
