According to Mark Blaudschun of TMG Sports, the University of Connecticut is among the schools that has been contacted about potential membership in the Big 12. The contact was apparently just a feeling out process, with the conference attempting to wager interest of potential members.
UConn has been among the Big 12 expansion rumors that began in July after the conference announced its intention to grow. However, UConn has been more on the back-burner, as schools like Memphis, Houston, BYU, and Cincinnati have garnered more attention as potential future members. The Huskies have been on more of a level with Colorado State and Central Florida, where there is definitely some interest, but people have cast skepticism on if it can work.
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What would UConn bring to the Big 12? Besides from their great basketball programs, the school would also bring in some of the northeastern market. Of course, that same strength could also be a weakness, as distance start to become a factor here. The Big 12 may want to add schools that are closer to its current furthest member (West Virginia), but UConn is still quite the ways away from Morgantown, WV.
We are still very early in the process of the Big 12 actually adding new members. However, this is an important step along the way, and there may be more teams in play than people originally thought.
