Big 12 Still Targeting More Expansion

The Big 12 is still targeting more expansion.

The conference will add BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF in 2023 and lose Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC at some point in the coming years.

Ever since this summer, there's been plenty of chatter about whether or not the Big 12 might target the PAC-12 to poach some teams. Following the news of USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten in 2024, the PAC-12 appeared ripe for the picking.

Will the Big 12 expand? (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

However, the situation has since stabilized, and it doesn't look like the PAC-12 is still on the brink. That hasn't stopped Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark from thinking about going west.

"We'd love to get into that fourth (Pacific) time zone, and we will at some point," Yormark explained Wednesday night.

The Big 12 is interested in staying idle.

While Yormark has done an outstanding job in his time as the commissioner of the Big 12, it's unlikely he can snag some PAC-12 teams if the Big Ten doesn't do it first.

In order for middle of the pack teams in the west coast conference to be open to leaving, they have to think the league is falling apart. If Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford were all leaving, it would be time for everyone else to find the lifeboats.

That would represent the perfect opening for the Big 12. In that scenario, Yormark could swoop in and take several teams. The Big 12 could possibly grab Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah. They're not teams in PST, but they are further out west.

However, none of that is likely if the Big Ten leaves the PAC-12 intact.

Will the Big 12 target Colorado? The conference is interested in further expansion. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

No matter what, Yormark has consistently signaled the Big 12 is committed to growing and not being left behind. At this point, it's just a matter of how and when it can happen, judging from his latest comments.