Last week it was learned Cincinnati is actively pursuing membership in the Big 12, a conference that continues to weigh the pros and cons of expansion. Other AAC teams that have for one reason or another been thrown into Big 12 realignment talk, be they geographic fits like Houston or purely for the sake of filling space in newspapers like Temple, figure to be in the rumor mill discussions to various extents. One program perhaps feeling left out from the previous massive shifts in realignment is UConn. It would seem, at this point, the Huskies have settled in with their new spot in the AAC.
The Hartford Courant recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the University of Connecticut for any documents related to potential conference realignment. The request came back empty as the newspaper was informed there were no relevant documents to share. Unless there are some shady operations going on behind closed doors with no paper trail, then it seems UConn is not actively pursuing a new conference home. There are a couple of reasons why that may be.
First, the more natural fit for UConn would be a conference that falls much closer within the school’s reach. If the ACC is not going to come calling to invite UConn to join former Big East allies Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Miami, then UConn is more than likely stuck. The only other power conference fit that would make sense for the Huskies would be the Big Ten, and that is even more unlikely to happen than the ACC. Even if the Big 12 got desperate to expand to 12 members, the Huskies would more than likely be far down the list of options. If West Virginia is a program that is left isolated in its own little corner of the Big 12, UConn would be on the outer rim of the Big 12’s solar system.
Second, UConn has already made the difficult decision to abandon the Big East. The Huskies went all in with football at the expense of breaking up its long-standing history in the Big East in basketball. Has that been worth it?
If an invitation to join the Big 12 or any other power conference does one day end up reaching Storrs, Connecticut, then there should be some serious conversations about whether to accept or not. However, UConn’s window to join a power conference has likely been closed.