What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, the Big 12 and UConn are talking again and I THINK I’ve locked in my out-of-state football schedule this year. Plus, we talked to Finebaum (yes, we did) and Deion isn’t talking to a certain writer. Let’s dig in.
BACK TO UCONN
Well, here we go again.
Just when you thought it was safe to start a football season with a stable conference, the Big 12 has to go out and start looking for new members. Again.
On Friday, several outlets, including Yahoo! Sports and ESPN, broke news that the Big 12 and UConn leadership met last week to discuss the Huskies potentially joining the conference by 2026 for all sports except football.
You might recall a year ago that rumors of discussions with UConn started after it won the men’s basketball national championship and the Big 12 was courting the Corner Four schools from the Pac-12. Gonzaga was looped in, too.
Well, the Big 12 got the Four Corners to push the league to 16 teams. And discussions with the Huskies and the Bulldogs seemed to go on the back burner.
Now, it looks like the talks have restarted. The pieces I read noted that discussions were in the range of “serious early discussions” to “premature speculation.” Most reports referenced an upcoming meeting between the Big 12 leadership council and commissioner Brett Yormark to discuss.
I wouldn’t expect a vote anytime soon. I agree with the reports that some Big 12 schools are lukewarm to the idea of adding a school that has great basketball programs but an underwhelming football program.
So why is this happening now? I can think of two reasons.
First, the Big 12 is monitoring what is happening in the ACC with Clemson and Florida State. The two schools are clearly pushing for freedom to explore membership with other conferences. To be clear, I don’t believe the Big 12 is at the top of either schools’ list. The Big Ten and the SEC are. More guaranteed money and those leagues have the same pro rata the Big 12 has, which it used to get the Corner Four in at the same level as the rest of the schools.
The ACC could win. The two schools could win. Or, ESPN, the ACC’s exclusive rightsholder, could trigger chaos, even with 12 years left on the deal.
Why?
CBS Sports published its ACC predictions earlier this week. Dennis Dodd offered a bold prediction — that ESPN would trigger its option to not extend the current deal beyond 2027. I believe ESPN would do this ONLY if it believed it could save money in the long run (the network isn’t flush with cash these days and what cash they do have is going to higher-tiered broadcast properties like the NBA).
If ESPN does that, all bets are off. The grant of rights likely ends up in the trash and several ACC programs hit free agency by 2028.
In that event, the ACC will have to restock and UConn would be a desirable school for them. Yormark likely sees UConn as a pre-emptive move that benefits the Big 12 regardless of what happens in the ACC.
That feeds the other reason. Yormark has made no secret that he believes college basketball is undervalued or his desire to explore making Big 12 basketball a standalone product from a television perspective. To do that he has to have a product with as many big brands as possible when it’s time to negotiate the league’s next deals (probably 2029-30). Now, the Big 12 is a great league. But to spin the kind of deal I think Yormark wants — one that feels like an NBA deal — he needs more membership.
The Big East’s new media deal offers some perspective. For that league, it’s a great deal since UConn is the only one that plays in FBS. But, the deal will pay each Big East team about $8 million per year for its basketball. That’s about one-quarter of what each Big 12 team will get from the new TV deal that kicks in next athletic year.
I don’t believe that percentage is what Yormark is looking for in a standalone deal. As great as Big 12 basketball is, the 16 it has is not enough to drive the type of deal that makes that move worth it.
UConn can help with that. The men are back-to-back national champions. The women’s program immediately enhances the Big 12 women’s basketball portfolio. The school, while located in Connecticut, gives the conference adjacent access to the New York City market.
The NYC market is one Yormark undoubtedly covets, given he worked there for more than a decade as chief executive officer of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. He can’t claim the market with UConn. But, in a scenario where the ACC loses membership, he can make a case to basketball-centric schools on the east coast that the Big 12 can be their home. Think Duke and North Carolina in the ACC. Think St. John’s in the Big East. Luring SJU would allow Yormark full access to the NYC market.
I don’t believe a vote is coming soon. The football question is a significant one for the Big 12. UConn is an independent program. It plays at Rentschler Field in Hartford, a half-hour away from campus. The stadium is solid, but the game I went to several years ago showed me they’re not ready for football at this level.
That’s why UConn officials reportedly spent a lot of time talking about how they’ll prepare the program to be Big 12-ready in 2031. Any membership agreement would likely come with hitting certain benchmarks a some kind of scheduling agreement.
This is why Yormark is exploring this now instead of waiting, even if it doesn’t happen. To build the type of television agreement that is worthy of a league like the Big 12, he needs more top brands. More top brands will bring more potential partners to the table. To drive up the cost he needs suitors. It may end up being a late 1980s Big East situation where it has to spin four or five TV deals at the same time to get it done.
He’ll also have to convince a membership exhausted with two years of expansion who are just hoping for a little stability. It won’t be easy. But if these are the goals, the push to get UConn is the right move.
COME FIND ME ON THE ROAD
I think I have figured out my football travel schedule for the 2024 season (at least outside the state of Texas).
Find me in Pittsburgh on Sept. 14 for the Backyard Brawl when West Virginia faces Pitt.
Then, hit me up when I’m in Manhattan for the Sept. 28 showdown between Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
I should be locking in my travel this week for the Oct. 19 showdown between UCF and Iowa State in Ames. Then, I’m heading to Salt Lake City for the Nov. 9 renewal of the “Holy War” between BYU and Utah.
In-state, I’ll check out BYU early when they visit SMU on Sept. 6 (I live just up the road). I need to get to Texas Tech to check out the AT&T Jones Stadium remodel and I’ll peek into TCU and Baylor as well.
I might try and squeeze in one more out-of-state game, but it’ll be tough. I’m trying to save some money for basketball season this time around.
PETE AND PAUL
It’s a long story, but somehow, someway, our Pete Mundo got ESPN personality Paul Finebaum on his show this week for an interview. His first question? Why does Paul hate the Big 12?
And here we go.
Paul also clarified his recent comments about Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy and which team he believes is best positioned to run the new Big 12.
So, now he’s noted Big 12 expert Paul Finebaum. I guess.
DEION’S DONE WITH THIS GUY
This was only a matter of time. Colorado coach Deion Sanders and his sports information staff have banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking the coach questions.
Per the Colorado SID staff:
“After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department, in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events,” the athletic department told ESPN. “Keeler is still permitted to attend football-related activities as a credentialed member of the media, and other reporters from the Denver Post are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel made available to the media, including coaches, players, and staff.”
It should be noted that the SID staff there at Colorado probably doesn’t have much say in this. They’re taking their cues from Sanders, and I’ve seen SID’s put in this bind before.
All this makes Sanders look small and incapable of handling the usual questions and criticism that comes with being a football coach. It further underscores the point I made a couple of weeks ago when Sanders and Keeler had a run-in during a press conference. The folks in Boulder are going to get sick of this eventually.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
