"Fourteen seems to be our best number"- CFB insider reveals Big 12 expansion is on the hunt for one more team ahead of the 2023 season

The Big 12 is reportedly looking for one more team to join its fold in the current expansion move. It was confirmed on Thursday that Colorado will be departing the Pac-12 after the university's Board of Regents unanimously voted for a move to the Big 12.

This will bring the conference membership back to 14 after the impending exit of Texas and Oklahoma in 2024.

While the exit of Colorado, places the future of the Pac-12 in further doubt, it appears that the Big 12 is not done poaching from the conference.

The Big 12 athletic directors convened a meeting with Commissioner Brett Yormark on Friday to discuss the future of the conference. With Colorado now in, sources confirmed to ESPN that the conference is seeking to add only one more new member going forward:

"Fourteen seems to be our best number. Now that we're at 13, who's going to be the first to make a move to start having a conversation with us was the general discussion today. We talked about a lot of different schools, but it's more about, 'Hey, we've got room for one more and who wants to be the first to really want to be a part of the Big 12 now and join us?'"

Who are the candidates for the Big 12?

Colorado has been at the center of the Big 12 expansion plan since the hiring of Deion Sanders as the university's football head coach. The expansion situation has always been 'Colorado and someone else' over the last couple of months.

With one spot reportedly left after Colorado’s official confirmation, there seems to be a huge level of competition among potential candidates. Some of the schools that have been in extensive talks to realign with the Big 12 include Arizona, UConn and Gonzaga.

Arizona appears to be the main focus of the Big 12 after adding Colorado. The university has been in the rumors of a potential realignment to the Big 12 over the last couple of months.

However, it is waiting to see the result of the Pac-12 media deal before making its decision.

On the other hand, UConn and Gonzaga are candidates for the Big 12 because of their basketball prowess. Brett Yormark has continuouslly reinstated his commitment to building the conference basketball appeal and the two are perfect candidates for that.

In the next couple of weeks, the college football world will get to know the next team that will make a move to the Big 12. The conference is taking actions to round up the process quickly.