Source: Big 12 talks growth plan at meeting

• Heather Dinich, ESPN

  • Elder WriterJun 2, 2023, 01:36 PM ET Close College football press reporter
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark stated Friday that the conference has “a strategy” when it pertains to expansion, and while league leaders are satisfied with their present membership, they continue to check out “all options and factors to consider at this moment in time.”

A source who took part in the conferences this week told ESPN there were no major votes on subscription, but there were discussions about scenarios.Yormark, who dealt with reporters through videoconference after the Big 12 spring meetings in West Virginia, was asked particularly about the possibility of Gonzaga or another school signing up with the conference as a basketball-only member.Editor’s Picks”We do see the upside in basketball moving on for all the right reasons,”Yormark said without

mentioning any specific schools.”We think it’s undervalued, and if there’s a chance for us to double down as the No. 1 basketball conference in America, however football is the driver and we all understand that. “As we think about the future and methods to produce value,”he included, “there is constantly that alternative to decouple basketball from football to see if there’s additional worth we can develop for the conference. “A source told ESPN that UConn and Gonzaga were”certainly discussed “in the meetings, which were held at the swank Greenbrier Resort, however the presidents and chancellors are in a holding pattern till the Pac-12 reveals its television deal.The Big 12 is including four members– BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF– in time for the college football season.Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec, who signed up with the

videoconference with Yormark, stated the Big 12’s present presidents and chancellors have specific priorities they are weighing as growth discussions continue.”Our institutions share the exact same high scholastic standards and we compete at an extremely high level athletically, so naturally those sort of requirements enter into our considerations, but likewise I think we need to open to this changing landscape of athletics,” Schovanec said.”That is among the abilities and perspectives Brett brings us. We’re taking a really open mindset, weighing all the various concerns that exist, and when the timing is right and the scenario is right, we’ll make a decision.” Considering that he was hired in August, Yormark has been outspoken in his desire to make the Huge 12 a”nationwide conference in our makeup from coast to coast.”He produced some friction with the Pac-12 when he announced at the league’s media days that the Big

12 was “open for company.”Yormark also said Friday that the conference will similarly disperse a record $440 million to the 10 members from last year, which means Oklahoma and Texas will each get$44 million before signing up with the SEC in 2024. The commissioner likewise said the Big 12 will reveal a”

brand revitalize “next year that might include”various colors and applications,”but the conference will not alter its logo design or name.