Brett Yormark makes bold claim about the future of the Big 12, becoming 'No. 1 basketball conference'

The Big 12 is already one of the preeminent basketball conferences in America. With Kansas, Baylor, Texas and a spate of other competitive men’s programs, the league is in great shape.

But commissioner Brett Yormark wants the Big 12 to be the conference for college basketball. Having won multiple national titles in the last five years and fielding a few teams that could hoist the trophy in 2024, it’s not hard to imagine the Big 12 making moves to cement itself the pinnacle for college hoops.

“We do see upside in basketball moving forward for the right reasons,” Yormark said, according to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini. “We think it’s undervalued and there’s a chance to double down as the No. 1 basketball conference. But football is the driver and we all know that.”

Since 2010, the Big 12 has earned 27 Sweet Sixteen bids — more than two per tournament — and had six appearances in the Final Four by four different teams. Kansas, unsurprisingly, has the most Final Four appearances in that span with three as Oklahoma (2016), Texas Tech (2019) and Baylor (2021) each have one.

And in 2021 and 2022, the Big 12 won back-to-back national championships with Baylor and then Kansas hoisting the trophy.

Few conferences have been as consistently successful in the postseason in the last decade plus.

Yormark shared that the Big 12 has a plan to expand upon the success and the league’s footprint in one fell swoop. What the plan is, though, remains a mystery.

“We had a great discussion about expansion and we have a plan. We have an appetite to be a national conference and we believe in the upside of basketball,” Yormark said.

The obvious additions to do that would be Gonzaga and UConn, bringing two powerhouse basketball programs into the fold and adding presences on each coast. It would also give the Big 12 a team in every continental U.S. time zone, something other leagues can’t claim.

The Big 12 is already adding BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston, currently one of the best teams in the country, to the league ahead of the 2023-24. The additions of UConn, the 2023 national champions and Gonzaga, a team that’s been around the Final Four as much as any in the country the last decade, could push the league to new heights.

“We love our current composition. Love the four new schools coming in. However, if the opportunity presents itself to create value, we will pursue it. I’m not going to address expansion beyond that today, but it is a focus of ours,” Yormark said.