Big 12 Not Expanding

It is the Big 12’s fault, however, that they conducted a press conference at the very end of football media days last July 19 declaring Bowlsby had been authorized to consider candidates. By the time they play again, on October 29 against Kansas State in what might be Bill Snyder’s farewell to Jack Trice Stadium, a couple new teams might be on the threshold of being welcomed into the Big 12 Conference family.

The Big 12 is the smallest of the major conferences – comprised of the Power 5, this includes the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference – and presidents have been split on whether to expand, and which schools to invite.

ESPN.com was the first to report expansion is a no go after the Big 12’s presidents and chancellors met for almost six hours at a hotel here in suburban Dallas on Monday.

This is the cash-grab option. The new schools probably wouldn’t receive full revenue shares immediately, but now that there aren’t any additions to the Big 12, it’s not something the current members have to worry about. The Big Ten, SEC, PAC-12, and ACC all have, or will have, conference networks that are providing member schools with tens of millions of dollars each year through television rights deals.

Cincinnati and BYU appeared to be viable candidates to join the Big 12 due to their football-basketball combination, but those schools will stay in purgatory as a result of the decision. Each provides a set of benefits as well as challenges.

While many want to focus on the athletics side of the argument, President Frank’s pitch to the conference is centered on the academic fit between Colorado State and the Big 12. He thinks it should add Cincinnati and Houston. The fact that teams in the Big 12 have been subpar in recent years hasn’t helped the conference’s case.

The conference has decided not to expand at this point, leaving it at 10 members.

The presidents might believe that dividing TV cash from the Big 12’s two primary broadcast partners, Fox and ESPN, by 10 is the best route, instead of gambling on a bigger payday later that would be divided by 12. And now they may as well write an obituary for the Big 12. And that’s not to mention the millions of dollars spent by the league during this entire process, including the hire of consultants. CSU ranks 127th nationally, which is higher than four current Big 12 members: Oklahoma State (149), Kansas State (146), Texas Tech (168), and West Virginia (175).

Sources are scrambling everywhere, the 11 finalists are all waiting patiently by the phone, and the Big 12’s presidents and chancellors are prepared to discuss expanding the Big 12. If that happens, the Big 12 as we know it would most likely cease to exist.

Many of us think Texas and OU will ultimately leave in eight years after the grant of rights expires.

“Most of the schools they were talking to were in our conference”, Herbst said.

The entire process, through various leaks and public posturing – especially by the conference’s two flagship schools, Oklahoma and Texas – may play out like an elaborate blackmail scheme.

Check back for more details.