UH athletic director Hunter Yurachek meets with Pac-12 commissioner

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While the Big 12 decides whether to expand, the University of Houston is exploring other options.

Hunter Yurachek, UH’s top athletic official, recently met with Pac-12 Conference commissioner Larry Scott at the league’s offices in San Francisco.

ALSO SEE: UH coach Tom Herman sounds off on job rumors

Yurachek was on the West Coast to watch the UH track and field team compete at the NCAA championships and requested an “introductory meeting” with Scott, a Pac-12 spokesman said Monday.

“I have the upmost respect for commissioner Scott and used my time with him to pick his brain on a myriad of topics related to the future of college athletics,” Yurachek, UH's vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement released to the Houston Chronicle.

A university source said conference expansion was among the topics discussed during the meeting.

As recent as last month, the Pac-12 has indicated it is content at 12 members and is not in expansion mode.



UH also has been mentioned as a Big 12 expansion possibility. Click through the gallery for the pros and cons of various prospective Big 12 expansion candidates. less University of Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek recently met with the commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference, a source close to the university told the Chronicle.

UH also has been mentioned as a Big 12 ... more University of Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek recently met with the commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference, a source close to the university told the Chronicle. Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Staff Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Staff Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close UH athletic director Hunter Yurachek meets with Pac-12 commissioner 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

If the league considers expansion, UH – which currently competes in the American Athletic Conference – would provide access to the nation’s fourth-largest city and a footprint in Texas.

UH officials have been pushing for inclusion in the one of the Power Five conferences, most notably the Big 12, but Yurachek said in May that the school must “keep all our options open.”

UH has been mentioned as a candidate for the Big 12 along with Cincinnati, BYU, Memphis, Central Florida, South Florida, Connecticut, Boise State and Colorado State.

“We want Houston to be at the top of that list,” Yurachek said in late May about inclusion in talks to join a Power Five conference.

Big 12 presidents are expected to discuss expansion as part of Tuesday’s agenda in Dallas. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Oklahoma president David Boren, the chair of the league’s expansion committee, are scheduled to speak to reporters later in the day.

At the Big 12 spring meetings, Bowlsby said he would like to have a decision on expansion one way or another by August.