NEW: Expansion Big 12 Adding UConn in Realignment is Happening, and All Sports Are Coming | Big East

you g to the Big 12 this is something that you're hearing reports of on your side give the full scoop of what you've gotten in the last couple of weeks yeah thanks Drake for having me on I appreciate you um it's it's simply where there's smoke there's fire you know we talked a little bit pre-show about it that a good friend of mine um reached out to me and he's up in Connecticut he deals a lot with um boosters with uh some folks in that in that world and uh I see how old I am I say boosters when it's like nil Collective um and he's he said that you know it could be as soon as two weeks but that it in his words it seems eminent um he also sent it to me and said could be a good segment for you in the Pod um so it's one of those things where um I I I I feel like this is something that's been building over time and we discussed a little bit why I I I believe that this is likely going to happen uh whether it happened in two weeks is remains to be seen now the imminent word is one that immediately catches my attention and any source that reaches out you say you know what there's there's something to this and moreover if you Google you simply Google me pre-show doing my notes there are so many articles from Ross Ellinger to Brett MC Murphy that mention Yukon in terms of Big 12 expansion where the conference wants to go let's talk Yukon let's pose it for your standpoint your listeners the the people who matter on the Husky side how does this make sense for a school that's had so much success especially on the basketball side in the Big East you know it I I think it's it sounds crazy but I'm on board but I think a lot I think I'm in the minority here um and I think part of that is there's a there's a nostalgic push there was the there was the dead years in the the AAC the ath American Athletic Conference right and the the push to get us back into the Big East was made by Gino Orma from the women's team and then with Dan Hurley and his Resurgence of the men's team to become the National Power that it truly was before before he was there uh and and almost resurrected to the point now we're we're thinking about a threee crazy to even say that out loud again there there just is there there is a lot of people that would the reason why it hasn't happened already is because I feel like there was such a push to go back to the Big East that a pivot to the Big 12 it's almost too much change for for Yukon to to kind of wrap their head around and but I do feel I've done I've done a few shows on this that they have to start thinking about the future and if the future is you know talking about this for next year or the year after that but we announce it sooner than later so people know where we're going um to secure that future I think that is that that's what makes the most sense financially we'll work out the logistics later from a football standpoint then if you're Yukon I mean I don't foresee the Big 12 taking just basketball from a school that has football I mean Gonzaga obviously a different story you've got to bring them in hoops and maybe baseball and you work at the contract from there for Yukon is this an all sports thing or do you foresee it being men's and women's basketball and everybody else fence for themselves I mean no disrespect to the Big 12 if it's if it's all if it's if it's basketball it's got to be football because if we're if we're talking um just basketball then call the ACC and create some kind of new conglomerate ACC where we can just come in as a basketball power and keep football as an independent but I think football is is got the tools in terms of the coaching staff you got former NFL coaches we got an SEC coach as a defensive defensive coordinator was at Mississippi state they're a middle of the road defensive team but at Yukon that might be the best defensive coordinator we ever had so it's they're they're getting transfers they has been a consistent effort to get nil efforts uh to get a quarterback like Nick Evers who was an Oklahoma guy and was a four-star recruit so they're making they're making those Investments I can't see them making those Investments and staying an independent or to some reports going more small time and throwing football in the Mac with like UMass I just don't see that being a possibility for the Big 12 Brett ymar has said that he had conversations with Yukon and Gonzaga he this is all reporting from Andrew Marshall where he says direct quote I did have conversations with Yukon and Gonzaga and unfortunately things didn't work out only because the dream scenario unfolded for us so those conversations are no longer now that was a year ago when the Big 12 added the four schools out west they were looking to add those two basketball powerhouses and then something else fell in their lap at the death of the Pack 12 and maybe that happens again as the ACC begins its collapse let's talk about that next and flip the table talking Big 12 perspective here on lock down UK lockon Big 12 part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day it is summertime and that means spending and thankfully ibata has got you covered sandals sunscreen snacks for the kids you're going to the beach and every time I go to the beach gotta pay for parking Gotta Buy this and Gotta Buy that and a couple Miller lights and ibata is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop earn on hundreds of items from groceries to Beauty Supplies to even toys so you can make sure you're beating inflation no matter what your purchase the average ibata user earns $256 per year that could cover the cost for an entire shopping trip the flight you've been eyeing the fancy dinner you've been craving all in ibata that you can save on 2400 Brands over that with a thousand retailers including Macy Sephora Best Buy and more right now iata's offering listeners $5 for Trying ibata by using the code locked on College when you register go to the app store Google Play Store download the free ibata app to start getting cash back use code locked on College that's iBot TTA in the Google Play or App Store using Code locked on College with iata Mark zetto have locked on Yukon hearing reports that Yukon will join the Big 12 as a member of this conference I want to flip the table a bit and give you the opportunity to ask the questions of how this affects the Big 12 from our side of things what is the number one what is top of mind for Yukon when you think about joining the quote truck stop conference yeah no it's a I appreciate that so I I think my biggest question to you and if you when you get to Big 12 media day maybe you can ask this question even just for your own even for your own teams the Big 12 is stacked with power programs physical teams Cincinnati's Kansas West Virginia the travel the yeah the absolute you know beating each other up you know it's like a heavyweight fight every game if you look at some of these games yeah the spreads are like what four or five for no matter whether you're the 12th team or the first team How would how would Yukon or should I should phrase it more like why would Yukon want to go to the big 12 and have to play 16 to 18 quad One games and essentially kind of fall apart in the tournament because you're just beaten to to crap you know there was a stretch there mark where the big 12 was dominating at the final four level from Texas Tech going to the championship against Virginia and then Kansas running the table you look at the 2020 cancelled season I think Kansas with asabuki or or Baylor and what they had with Jared Butler and mac o teue and and and everybody that was back in 2021 to help them win a championship and Kansas in 22 there was a stretch there where it was the narrative that the Big 12 can't win in March because it's so tough in the regular season and that narrative was completely canceled out and the last two years haven't exactly reflected that the big 12's been a bit of a flop in the postseason but if you want to be in the best conference in college basketball it's really not close you ask sportico you ask Massy ratings you ask anybody and the big 12's got the best conference in basketball uh especially when when teams like BYU became surprisingly competitive or Cincinnati or UCF we both missed the tournament but snuck up on teams like Kansas and pulled major upsets because they had pieces that were competitive and successful then the top of the conference you already mentioned there's Iowa State there there's there's TCU there who's so competitive now now Arizona is in your conference and you bring in the likes of a Colorado who's at least competitive last season that's not to mention the Baylor the Kansas of the world and what they've given the conference for the last few years and programs with history like Oklahoma state that have frankly sucked but at the very least they have the the basketball is there and maybe for for me and I I know that I'm I'm so interested to hear the questions that Yukon would have um the one thing that I question on the Big 12 side if it's adding Yukon is let's show from a competitive nature what it adds to the conference because obviously it does big the big 12 having a Yukon having Gonzaga is going to make basketball even better an elite product some more Elite the then you go to revenue you say all right you got the chops do you have the money to back it up Yukon is the only School in the country over the last couple of Seasons that has spent more money on basketball than football and profited a lot more money off of basketball and then football and the eada numbers from 2022 which gives you a it's kind of we we work two years back when it comes to government numbers and revenue and for Yukon I mean they're in the thick of it with the Illinois the the indianas the Michigan States the North Carol when it comes to basketball Revenue at 24 million per year then you look at a Syracuse at 34 million or a Duke at 45 million you say hey if you're the Big 12 and the ACC falls apart why not add Duke why not add Syracuse who actually make more money off of off of football than Yukon does and could bring you more Revenue so I don't know if I even think about it from a competitive standpoint more so than I do a a revenue standpoint how much money can Yukon bring you yeah I I also wonder too just about if you if you look at if we take away it's hard to take away money in in college athletics these days but if we look at the competitive landscape of of the Big 12 from the big 12's perspective does it make sense to add another superpower to that mix where you're right over you know from from 2019 to 2022 they had a nice run where you had Kansas Texas Tech you mentioned all that but last year if you saw it I mean you had Bill self go on like act say say that he was already looking at next season because his team his his team was hurt you know I felt like they beat each other up to the point like I I feel like even Iowa State if they had beaten Illinois they probably would have got beat by 30 against Yukon in that team that that team looked exhausted after that Illinois game in the sweet 16 that they barely lost so it's just it's just one of those things where I just wonder I think I think some fans on our side would would have that same thought process but as far as like recruiting goes do do you feel like the foot the conference footprint would be benefited by having a team in the Northeast is that something that is even thought of in in your perspective recruiting standpoint the league itself is so sporadic now because you have UCF and you have BYU you have West Virginia and you have Colorado so where you recruit and the hubs that you reach from you know you don't see a ton of these schools going and grabbing a kid out of Chicago the Chicago area in in a high school setting and you don't really see these schools going to Brooklyn and grabbing this kid from a high school say well there's really good basketball instead you're seeing a lot of hey what has IMG got for me what has link got for me what are these what AES Sunrise Christian have for me how did these prominent basketball prep programs give us star recruits in the conference Baylor's doing that Houston's doing that Kansas is doing that I I think what you see more so now just in the sport of basketball in general is schools turning to the prepis and the transfer portal and saying look I don't I don't care where you went to high school but you're a three-year starter from Western Kentucky you're a two-year starter from Toledo you're the Mac Player of the Year you're the socon player of the year you scored 26 points per game and shot 48% from three we we need you we want that in our program and maybe you're coming off the bench but that's what recruiting seems to be now more so portal focused more so Academy focused than it is necessarily regionally maybe Yukon seen a bit of that too for sure um you know they they've been they've had a lot of success over the last couple years picking a Tristan Newton from East Carolina picking cam Spencer from ruter uh this year they got Aiden mahen from St Mary's so you're right you know there's that's there's definitely a part of it but the Strategic aspect of of recruiting is still still part of it I wonder I'll ask you one more question about the Big 12 and kind of the the long-term Vision if if this happens and we use that eminent word in the next couple weeks what's the do you think that they if they do if if this offer has already been made and they're working this all out behind the scenes do do they you think that they see Yukon as a strategic fit like where they're betting on the football program being to a level that Kansas is at to where Duke is at where it could get to that point because Yukon wasn't always in the dold drums of of the football program they were a good team in the Big East when Big East had football um and you know this is two I mean I'm it's 20 years ago but in 2004 they were in the Fiesta Bowl 2003 or 2004 in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma so it's it's not impossible for this to happen at Yukon where there are competive football program maybe and Hell who knows in 2003 they would have been in the college football playoff that's how crazy this world is so um if we were in the 12 team 12 team expanded playoff world that we're in now so do you think that that's part of it that they're they're looking they're looking at it as like all right Yukon is already here on the basketball level they're here at football if we can just get them to about here and we bet on that that's also going to add a ton of Revenue as they kind of on the rise yeah more than necessar looking at football what Brett ymark wants to do the conference commissioner of the Big 12 is is look at innovative ways to bring in money and this would be a completely basketball move I it would almost be your mark saying I don't care about football at this point I I you guys make a bulk of money in basketball Ur at at now the last Deca it goes decades back that yukon's going to be successful at basketball this reminds me a lot of be everybody bear with me Florida State in football Texas in football Alabama in football those are programs that can suck for 5 years suck for seven years eight years and still make money because people pour resources into those football programs Yukon Basketball can suck for three four five six years and they are still going to bring in money in basketball because of the resources surrounding that program that's what brings Brett yar's attention to that school let's so football being even remotely competitive and more so how can I make money off a product that foxs and NBC and ESPN want to be even more involved with moving forward so a lot of it comes down to TV money and the TV money the basketball can bring in as these contracts expand and the Big East is an example of how TV money in basketball can save a conference or save an entity but I don't think Yukon can do this alone let's move there next who else is coming with the Huskies it's got to be somebody unlock on Big 12 un lock on Yukon part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day Today's Show is brought to you by FanDuel it's August 20th my rent is due in 11 days and at FanDuel I can say hey the Rays have been playing really well the Texas Rangers have been winning games at some point the Baltimore Orioles are fun I would like to put money on them and FanDuel says okay do it that's what we're here for fanduel.com is your place to go right now for an what this is a one- of a kind offer it's different that we've never done this before through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV yep with a YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current 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here representing locked on Yukon but it feels like from a lot of the reports that's a package deal in expansion you've usually got to have a buddy a partner is that partner Gonzaga yeah I believe it would be um it's in particular when you when you start talking about the revenue that Yukon brings just on basketball and how yach doesn't really care whether football is a part of the mix so they're not going to pair with Oregon state they're not going to pair with Washington State you know that that's just not going to be their their partner in crime here I think you know if there is a basketball power that's never won a a national championship right now it's Gonzaga and yeah there's there Yukon and Gonzaga are intrinsically linked from 1999 where that 99 team that Yukon made the final four and W that was their first Final Four it was also our emergence of Gonzaga in that Elite eight they were a 10 seed Dan mson brings them on this you know historic ride and that was the beginning of the mark FW era and it was the kind of the coronation of Jim coun kind of getting what people always knew that he was a great coach and getting to his first final four and then eventually his National Championship so I I I think there's too much symmetry there to to kind of not have the two of them join a conference together um and it's it's also schools where basketball is is is King you know I mean there's no you know we call we call our our place the um the basketball capital of the world I would imagine they feel pretty similar in in Spokane the ACC looks shaky Rocky at best with Clemson Florida State suing they're likely going to leave the league and from there Duke and North Carolina and Virginia and a lot of the power schools want to be on the table want to play their hands somewhere else is there way in which Yukon hitches its wagon to a Duke hitches its wagon to a maybe a North that's a much bigger brand North Carolina is huge because of the Jordan brand but one of those ACC schools helps segue Yukon into the Big 12 I could see Duke and I and I know our fans will hate that because our fans hate Duke fans and you know I don't blame them but um it's one of those things where if we're talking a partner that is that makes a lot of sense you can't really hit your wagon to North Carolina unless you're bringing state with them it's because it's a it's a it's a state school like it's there it's an it's the North Carolina institution you know you're not going to I don't think Carolina's going into a conference without making a deal with state so yeah um you know I think there there could be a scenario where they they hitch it to to Duke um you know I I don't know if there's kind of like a possibility to have even more people go to the big 12 I just I just don't I just don't see more than them them hitching with one one partner and I think it's Duke if if you're going to at an ACC School versus a Gonzaga uh a WCC school I think that would make more sense uh it would be I kind of would stick my nose up at it because it's kind of like making a deal with the devil no pun intended uh but yeah I I I would see Duke over Carolina there given the option if you're the Big 12 let's make you the big 12 commissioner for a second okay given the option Yukon is on the table with Gonzaga that's a package deal and you find out hey the ACC is falling apart NC State is there and Duke is there and maybe you could get Syracuse you probably you're out of the range North Carolina Virginia feel like big 10 programs based on their aaou status and where they're looking to go but hey Miami is here they bring the football aspect how does Yukon separate itself from some of those brands that carry a lot of weight in both football and basketball H I don't know if my my fan base will be excited about this but I don't I don't think they do I I and I and I say that just from a if we're talking dollars and cents uh you know what you say Yukon made a profit of $24 million on their basketball program yeah that's amazing uh but the fact that Syracuse made 10 million more and Syracuse is terrible at basketball at this point those number 2022 numbers when Syracuse even then wasn't great right so you know it's money talk you know we can't we can't curse on the show but you know money talks and other things walk so it's one of those things where like it's it it doesn't make sense it makes sense in the the value perspective of you know creating one kind of or not one because they'd be a part of an hour basketball power conference yeah but kind of bringing the king of college basketball at least over the last two years maybe over the last 10 or 20 years depending on how you look at it to the Big 12 and essentially saying there's irrevocably the the the best basketball conference in the country if that's what you want if that's what you want to create like you can't you could never argue it now like if you brought Yukon in next year and let's say Yukon wins a third straight national championship what what are they going to say you know what I mean so I could see that being a draw but it when it comes down to you're just the commissioner and you're looking at it from a value perspective you're bringing in NC State because they have they have a top 20 football program you're bringing in Duke because Duke is a basketball power plus they throw a top 25 football program occasionally once every five years so you you get a little bit of of everything from these programs um so yeah I mean I love Yukon and I think the gamble better be about creating a basketball superpower and that the football program is is on the come up the um this one's tough 10 years ago the university pitched itself to the Big 12 built this entire like public domain PDF about how Yukon should be a big 12 school this is one of the last rounds of realignment and obviously the Big 12 balked then what is different now do you feel like Yukon has a a different power or a different leverage than it did in 2016 granted it had still won multiple national championships in the 15 years prior to that yeah I think I I think it's going to sound corny but Dan Dan Hurley kind of moves mountains right now he's a yeah he is the type of guy that um is kind of the voice of college basketball at this point um and again you know I know I know my fans won't be excited about me won't be excited about me saying like when Coach K kind of like bestows that upon you in his podcast and was like listen you're the guy now um that kind of of is you know it's like being kned right and I think that means a lot and I think that I think if you're the the commissioner of the Big 12 that doesn't get you dollars but what it does is it kind of does I mean like you know there's there's there's streaming aspects to the big east's new new U deal that potentially the Big 12 can add to to to the mix with having that Northeast Connection um you know and that New Jersey New York connection as well that tri-state area I think there's dollars there that uh you don't get you don't get with Syracuse you definitely don't get it with Ruckers you know people can talk about that all the time but um no one watches Ruckers so it's like you know yuk Yukon has eyeballs uh you also get the you know women's basketball is never been more popular and us and us us folks in the in the the Nutmeg State uh would say what's took you so long because there's a lot of lot of great women's basketball teams that have gone through the University of Connecticut so I think that there's it's it's it's that it's it's the Dan Hurley effect you get the greatest women's basketball program that ever lived um in a time where women's sports are at its highest Mark for listeners of locked on Big 12 that like your work or want to see more of it where can they go yeah you can uh follow us just like your your show on on uh on YouTube uh wherever you get your podcast Apple Spotify wherever that is just go to lock on Yukon uh you can follow me you can see the the tag here marks Netto CBB or you can look or you can follow both which is at lockon Yukon we have an x- handle there too so got to pump up those numbers as well but yeah I would love to have any of your big 12 folks uh listen to the show especially especially maybe maybe coming we'll see that's what I about it's for all the Yukon fans when uh your school is in the Big 12 in 10 days I'll see they we'll do another crossover and I'll see all you guys very soon on a lot of locked on Big 12 shows this has been it always will be locked on Yukon and locked on thanks for making it your first lesson every single day dose Grande [Music] n [Music]