Big 12 Basketball: 4 schools the conference should add soon

1) Big 12 Basketball expansion candidates

UConn Huskies (Big East)

The last team on the list that has a strong case in the Big 12 hoops expansion conversation is the UConn Huskies and recently hired head coach Dan Hurley. Heading into the 2018-19 college hoops season, the Huskies made a change leading the program by parting ways with longtime bench boss Kevin Ollie.

Ollie led the Huskies to a National Championship during the 2013-14 season, and another solid NCAA Tournament run two years later. But outside of those two seasons, the results weren’t all that good for Ollie during his six year run as UConn’s head coach. That’s what led to the hiring of Hurley two years ago.

And the results for UConn look really promising since Hurley took over heading into the 2018-19 campaign. UConn improved their win total by three, despite having no postseason. And their winning percentage from the first to the second year of Hurley’s head coaching tenure improved by nearly 20.0 points.

UConn has the potential to be a mid-to-high seed NCAA Tournament team this season and be a dark horse contender to win a Big East Championship. What the main problem would be with adding the Huskies to the Big 12 is the fact that they just made the switch from the AAC to the Big East heading into the coming season. They might not want to hypothetically switch again so soon, despite having a number of solid arguments as a potential Big 12 expansion candidate.