Sources -- UConn, Big 12 in early talks for potential membership - ESPN

The Big 12 is in talks with UConn about joining the league in all sports, sources confirmed to ESPN.

No vote has taken place for a potential Huskies membership, nor is one close to happening, as sources cautioned that there has been pushback among several members that would need to be overcome.

The talks have advanced to the point where UConn athletic director David Benedict and board chair Daniel Toscano met with Big 12 athletic directors in person in Dallas last week to make their case, sources told ESPN. The conversations centered around football funding and how UConn could be competitive upon joining the league in 2031, sources said.

Part of UConn's presentation to the Big 12 covered how the Huskies would be prepared to build and spend money on football at a level similar to the current Big 12 programs, according to sources. They also pitched the league on how quickly they became competitive in the Big East football conference after joining in 2004.

A Big 12 board call is being planned for next week with the league's presidents that would lay out the specific deal points, according to sources.

«I think the word is 'premature,'» a high-ranking Big 12 official said. «There's a far distance between conversations and anything that would happen. The presidents haven't seen the case yet.»

The addition would be for all-sports, and the delay to 2031 in football would in theory give UConn a chance to catch up to be more prepared to join the league at that time in terms of funding and a talent upgrade through NIL. The Athletic first reported that potential board call and the talks.

The other sports, including UConn's dominant basketball programs, would be added whenever UConn could negotiate or wait out the 27-month waiting