In the ever-changing college athletics landscape, the Big 12 is potentially looking to shake things up again in terms of expanding its membership, according to ESPN's Heather Dinich.

The conference had its spring meetings in West Virginia this week and a source told Dinich that while there were no votes on new memberships, there were plenty of talks regarding different scenarios to grow the league.

One of those scenarios is adding blue blood basketball programs like Gonzaga and UConn to the mix as basketball-only schools, according to Dinich. And Commissioner Brett Yormark confirmed as much when asked about the possibility of adding a team like the Bulldogs.

"We do see the upside in basketball moving forward for all the right reasons," Yormark said without specifically mentioning either program. "We think it's undervalued and there's a chance for us to double down as the No. 1 basketball conference in America, but football is the driver and we all know that.

"As we think about the future and ways to create value," he added, "there is always that option to decouple basketball from football to see if there's further value we can create for the conference."

Set to lose a couple of heavy hitters to the SEC in 2024 with Oklahoma and Texas both leaving the conference, the Big 12 has been extremely quick in trying to create what Yormark has been calling a "national conference in our makeup from coast to coast."

Joining the conference in 2023 are a few well-known commodities in BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, which all have proved their worth, in both football and basketball, over the last several seasons.

If it's able to add Gonzaga and/or UConn in the coming years, the Big 12 will turn itself into the undisputed, best college basketball league in the country.

However, the Big 12's president and chancellors are waiting for the Pac 12's media deal to be announced before making any moves. They also have a number of priorities they are taking into consideration as expansion talks continue.

"Our institutions share the same high academic standards and we compete at a very high level athletically, so naturally those sort of criteria enter into our considerations, but also I think we have to open to this changing landscape of athletics," Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec said on the same call as Yormark. "That's one of the skills and perspectives Brett brings us. We're taking a very open attitude, weighing all the different issues that are presented, and when the timing is right and the situation is right, we'll make a decision."

While Gonzaga has been a longtime member of the West Coast Conference, a non-football league, UConn, the reigning men's national champions, is coming off a very recent switch back to the Big East.

After several years playing in the AAC, the Huskies rejoined the Big East ahead of the 2020 season, and it'd be hard to envision another move happening so soon.