Big 12 moves toward expansion, will evaluate candidates

Grobe, speaking at his formal press conference during Big 12 Media Days at the Dallas Omni, said he is keeping Briles’ style on offense. “There’s a contractual obligation to pay that additional amount pro rata that we’re already receiving if there is an expansion, a hypothetical expansion of the conference”.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the decision to further explore expansion and examine individual candidates was a unanimous decision by the 10 chancellors and university presidents on the board of directors. “A number of universities, as you well know, have contacted the Big 12 to express interest in our conference”.

So it’s back to business for both the conference and BYU.

Bowlsby and the conference leaders decided not to react to one year’s results and instead studied expansion along with the possibility of bringing back its championship game and trying to start a conference television network. When it came down to it, all the talk of the importance of round robins and one true champion seems kind of quaint. With what may be the final “power conference” spots available, any school would be silly not to accept a much smaller share of the revenue pie in the interest of gaining shelter while still earning considerably more money than at its previous stop. The contracts also call for immediate payout escalations if the league adds two or four new members. SI.com quoted an anonymous conference source who said adding at least two schools is “nearly definite” and adding four schools is “highly possible”. In reality, though, that’s just semantics.

Who will the Big 12 add?

The ACC also extended its agreement with Notre Dame through 2036, meaning if the Fighting Irish finally decide that football independence isn’t for them, they’re contractually obligated to join the ACC. You just knew it a few months before everyone else did. But the tenor around that has all changed.

Other teams expected to be considered by the Big 12 include South Florida and CT. While BYU has always been rumored to be the leading candidate, Houston comes in as a little bit of a surprise being as though they reside in Texas lending even more recruiting competition to the likes of Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and Baylor. If the league is going to expand I would add Houston and one team out east. Take your pick between Connecticut, Cincinnati and Memphis. Schools like Temple, San Diego State and Northern Illinois don’t really have a chance, but will give it a shot anyway. Boren did not comment publicly on the specific schools that have contacted the Big 12, but said each school has approached the league individually. “That will bring stability to the conference and … will benefit from an affiliation with the schools that are now in our conference”.

It looks like the Big 12 is moving ahead with its plans to expand the conference, as BYU, Cincinnati, UConn, Colorado State, Memphis, Houston and UCF have all been in touch with different members of the conference, hoping they’ll be the ones to get picked.

Although there is no timetable for the expansion, Bowlsby explained there is a process in vetting potential schools. The school is ready to present its case.

Let’s play this out real quick. Air Force and Wyoming are among other outsiders that competed in the 2016 Big 12 wrestling championship.

And the Big 12 could grow by next year. The schools are going to come running to their doorstep, pleading to join for a discount price.

The conference has being batting around the idea of adding more members for more than a year and begins its search with plenty of suitors. So the addition of four schools would mean approximately $100 million annually to the league’s coffers.