Future Big 12 expansion focused on ‘value creation’

The Big 12 is perhaps the college conference most linked to expansion over the last few months.

The league has been linked to current members of the American Athletic Conference, Big East, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference, and those rumors haven’t died down as the year has gone on.

Talking with the Dallas Morning News, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark talked about several topics, including expansion. While not mentioning any schools by name, aside from the official additions of BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston last week, Yormark did say any future expansion would focus on “value creation.”

“We want to be in all four time zones, and expansion is a big part of it,” Yormark said. “I would say that we have a plan for expansion. I’ve never mentioned one school that we want.”

The Big 12′s six-year, $2.28 billion television deal with ESPN and Fox expires in 2031. Conference expansion hinges on whether or not more teams will put the Big 12 in a better position when negotiations continue between the networks and conference, he said.

“Everything we do from here on out is about value creation,” he said. “If there’s no value creation, and I can’t see us growing our TV deal in that next cycle, then why expand?”

The note about “all four time zones” is also interesting. Following the addition of BYU, the Big 12 spans across three time zones, lacking just the Pacific Time Zone. Gonzaga, often mentioned as a potential expansion target, fits the criteria as a west coast team, as would San Diego State (currently having issues with the Mountain West).

Yormark’s comments about “value creation” seems to indicate that the Big 12 won’t expand for the sake of expanding going forward, which doesn’t seem like good news for schools already in the conference footprint.

[Dallas Morning News]