The Big 12 has embraced expansion arguably more than any other conference over the past two years. With that said, will the league consider adding another member in the future?
Since 2023, the Big 12 has accepted Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, UCF and Utah. In some ways, this was the conference’s response to losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.
According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the latest buzz is that Memphis wants to join the Big 12. Apparently, the program has made a $200 million offer to enter the conference.
Although it’s an intriguing offer from Memphis, it hasn’t received enough support from teams in the Big 12 right now.
“Big 12 officials are in the midst of exploring the proposal, but league-wide support is not there, multiple conference officials told Yahoo Sports. Any expansion move needs the support of a super majority of the league’s presidents and chancellors, or 12 of the 16. A more finalized copy of the Memphis proposal was disseminated among conference athletic administrators in the past few days,” Dellenger wrote.
“Over the past 18 months, the conference seriously explored two expansion proposals, from Gonzaga and UConn, only for each to fail to gain the necessary support. This effort is much more lucrative, but hurdles remain.”
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Dellenger added that Memphis has presented a “no-risk” proposal to the Big 12.
“The school would (1) take zero distribution for 5 years, (2) add, in sponsorships, as much as $3M annually to each Big 12 school’s coffers & (3) subject itself to expulsion after 2030 if Big 12 deems it is not adding value,” Dellenger said.
Maybe, just maybe, the Big 12 will reconsider this offer over the next few months.
As of now though, Memphis is on track to compete in the American Conference during the 2025 season and beyond.
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