Big 12 expansion to go 18 with Brett Yormark hunting for more schools; more Pac-12 schools in close contention: Reports

Big 12 expansion rumors do not seem to be slowing down anytime soon, according to some reports. The conference has added the Colorado Buffaloes, Utah Utes, Arizona Wildcats, and Arizona State Sun Devils this college football offseason. It is important to note that these teams will be in the Pac-12 in 2023 but will jump to the Big 12 before the 2024 college football season kicks off.

Senior editor and publisher at Wildcat Authority, Jason Scheer, is reporting that the Big 12 may not be finished expanding the conference.

As it currently stands, the Big 12 expansion has brought 16 teams to the conference, as the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns also leave to join the Southeastern Conference. It will be interesting to see which teams are potentially on Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark's shortlist, as the number of teams searching for a new conference is still large.

Big 12 expansion rumors get associated with several other teams in the Power 5?

The Big 12 expansion has done an excellent job of establishing the conference as one of the bigger Power Five conferences in college athletics. With Big 12 Mexico coming into play, the focus has to be on expanding the conference nationally. That means two teams that could be on the radar are on the east coast of the country.

However, it seems like the idea could be to attack the Pac-12 even more. The conference only has Oregon State, Stanford, Washington State and Cal remaining, and those feel more like a Big 12 filler than anything.

Two potential additions that seem to fit the mold that the Big 12 expansion seems to be attacking would be Florida State and Clemson. The Big 12 is already full of powerhouse teams and adding some more dominant programs never hurts.

This would accomplish a few things for the conference. The major one would be establishing more of a footprint on the East Coast, especially because the southeast is a college football hotbed, thanks to the SEC.

ACC is next in line, struggling to sustain its teams after Pac-12 fallout

The Atlantic Coast Conference seems to be having issues with as many as eight programs wanting out, so this would be a great opportunity for the Big 12.

Clemson is the only non-SEC program that has won a college football national championship since 2015, so that would be an excellent feather in the cap of the Big 12. Florida State is another program with a rich history, so that would add to the prestige of the conference.

They will have to battle it out with the SEC and Big Ten to add some upper echelon programs, but those two would be the best fits for a myriad of reasons. There could be others, but that should be the main focus for Brett Yormark if he wants to continue Big 12 expansion.