On Tuesday during the Big 12 Conference Media Days, the conference announced that commissioner Bob Bowlsby will begin exploring a possible expansion of two to four teams.
The announcement came as a surprise to many, as it seemed the conference was going to hold at ten members even after reinstating the football championship game beginning next season.
“If we are to expand, we want to find the strongest possible partners for expansion,” University of Oklahoma president and Big 12 Board of Directors chairman David Boren said in a teleconference. “And we talk about strong partners. We’re not talking about just athletic partners, which of course that’s very important; what is the fan base; what is the TV following, the broadcast following of these teams. But also what are the academic standards of these schools, what reputations do these schools have as institutions of integrity and shared values with us.”
Immediately after the announcement, speculation began on which teams the Big 12 might invite. The most likely teams include BYU, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, and UCF. Other teams frequently mentioned are Boise State, UConn, USF, and Colorado State.
“We’ve been contacted by a number of institutions, and I would imagine after this news breaks we’ll be contacted again,” Bowlsby said.
Bowlsby later indicated to CBSSports.com that they have previously been contacted by 25 schools. Those schools will surely be in contact with the Big 12 again if they haven’t already.
Whether the conference ultimately expands by two or four teams, the new members likely won’t be able to officially join the Big 12 until the summer of 2017.
An expansion of the Big 12 by two teams wouldn’t create that much of an effect on other conferences. If it’s two teams, it’s likely going to be BYU and an AAC team like Cincinnati, Memphis or Houston. That would possibly open up a spot in the AAC for UMass, which began playing as an Independent this season.
If four teams are invited to the Big 12, the AAC or the MWC could end up losing one or two members each. That might open up a spot in the MWC for New Mexico State, whose membership in the Sun Belt expires after the 2017 season.
Whatever the case may be, a decision could be made by the conference before October.
“It’s possible that this could extend to our October board meeting, but it’s also possible that we could have a special meeting sometime between now and then,” Bowlsby said.
View Comments (59)
Bob Bowlsby has to be one of the dumbest people alive. How the B12 lets him speak in public at this point is beyond me. The conference wasted money on a study to see if a champ. game would help the playoff chances. Well, just look at your peers, Bob. Then, that awful media days speech, followed by being told by the university leadership to seek expansion candidates. I do not understand how this guy has a job. No idea.
I like the expansion of The Big-12, may be BYU & Boise St for starters even though I think Houston has a good run at it. Not sure if BYU would want to be part of a conference if they can hang by themselves as independent with the TV deal & all.
$30 Million a year, BYU wants to join the Big 12
Boise State and BYU should get in. Maybe also Houston, Memphis, SMU and Temple.
Cincy and UConn should join the ACC.
Z man the reason cincy will get the bid is because of West by god Virginia they need/want a team that is in close proximity to them
The ACC doesn't want or need either of those two teams.
The Big 12 should go for BYU and either Houston, Memphis, or Tulane.
The Big 12 is a clown show, run by the lead clown UT. The only reason they are suddenly for expansion, something they should have done before, is b/c ACC announced a conf network with ESPN and extension of grant of rights to 2036. ND is included in the extension. The small chance they were hoping to lure a FSU maybe is done. The deal also keeps B10 away who was lookingto lure schools away such as UNC, UVA, Gtech. Big 12 like always is reactionary in realignment/expansion
Instead of expanding. The Big 12 should break apart. It's time for Texas to become a independent.
This possible expansion also effects scheduling in the form of BYU.
BYU has a full 12 game schedule set for 2017 and if they joined, they would have to remove 8 or 9 games from it depending on what the conference decides for number of conference games. That will most likely leave LSU, Utah, Wisconsin, Mississippi St, and Boise St (they have an agreement with them) as the 5 most likely to stay and they will still have to cut 1 or 2 of those games. The other 7 will be cut from the schedule for sure. This will leave possibly a few P5 teams scrambling for a P5 replacement in 2017. We shall see how it goes though...
Also, if BYU joins the B12 in 2017, there is no doubt they will have the toughest schedule in the country.
A friend of mine suggested that the Big 12 should look at adding "fun" destinations with the potential of good times to their conference in adding Tulane (New Orleans) and UNLV (Las Vegas). In all honesty, I could think of worse. Will be interesting to see what shakes out.
Did you really just clarify that UNLV was in Las Vegas? Anybody that needed that wasn't reading your post to begin with.
He did
UCLA (Los Angeles) in case nobody knew ;)
My vote is 12 with Cincinnati and BYU. If they really think they need 14 then go for both of the Florida markets.
I go with 4.... Houston, BYU, Memphis and either Cincy or Colorado State. I like the Bearcats and Rams hard to pick #4
Cincy will get the nod because of West Virginia plus all of the renovations that have been done at the school plus they know bearcats travel extremely well and we can use Paul brown stadium anytime an Oklahoma or Texas comes to town
And we will pack either stadium Paul brown or nippert do some research on cincy and you will be extremely surprised with all the renovations they've done and worth more on the way to fifth third arena