Big 12 Basketball: Examining 9 potential candidates for expansion

Honorable Mentions

There are a number of possibilities for the Big 12 beyond the nine schools we’re about to consider, but the odds start to stray further away from reality. In addition to the schools we’ll mention, there are a few other AAC schools, such as South Florida, Tulane, and Tulsa who could make decent additions to the conference. Obviously, each of them has its individual strengths and weaknesses, with none of those three in particular exactly exuding dominance in basketball or football in recent memory.

Another route the Big 12 could go is to raid a fellow power conference to find its new members. The following article will not spend time focusing on these teams, but the possibility remains there. The Big 12 could go after the two Arizona schools, or try to lure Colorado or Utah away from the Pac-12 as well. If Colorado is a potential target, the Big 12 could also go after Missouri and Texas A&M, the two schools that left the conference for the SEC during the last round of realignment.

There are rumors of Big 12 members going to certain conferences or that the Big 12 would dissolve, but a potential combination and partnership with the Pac-12 as a whole is also a move that could happen. The conference could try swiping members from the Big Ten or ACC, but it’s far more likely that the opposite occurs.

The one move that would really be a game-changer would be luring Gonzaga, though that will never happen without football for the Bulldogs. Let’s spend our energy focusing on more likely scenarios if expansion even is palpable at this point.