Big 12 basketball will stay as is after school presidents voted against potential expansion.
The Big 12 has been exploring the possibility of expansion for nearly three months. They announced in July that league commissioner Bob Bowlsby was free to negotiate with interested schools.
The conference opted to hold video interviews with nearly 20 candidates and created a final list of 11 programs who were the top contenders to make their way to the Big 12.
After speaking with schools like UConn, BYU and Cincinnati, among others, the Big 12 presidents finally decided the best way to move forward was to remain at 10 teams. The presidents and chancellors voted unanimously against expansion on Monday at their latest conference meeting and no individual schools were discussed.
Bowlsby added that Big 12 expansion would no longer be “an active agenda item.”
“I made one recommendation: that we should bring this process to closure — that we shouldn’t kick the can down the road,” said Bowlsby, who added that the 90-minute presentation he gave to the presidents on the expansion candidates Monday morning was the only time they were referenced specifically.
So it looks like the talk of expansion is officially closed, at least in the near future. This is excellent news on the basketball side of things, as the Big 12 is known for the brutality, competitive nature of their balanced conference schedule.
The ACC is the strongest conference in the nation, but some teams receive an easier slate of games than others. In the Big 12 that is not the case, as every team plays the nine other programs home-and-away, creating an even balance of opportunities for each teams’ resume.
In the big picture, the conference will avoid “alienating their television partners” and will likely try to start their own league network down the road.
Oklahoma president David Boren was initially the man that recommended conference expansion, creating speculation that the Sooners would opt to leave the conference in the future. However, the president spoke following the vote on Monday and confirmed that Oklahoma isn’t going anywhere.
Boren acknowledged that the league won’t extend its TV/media rights deal, which runs through 2024-25, until the deal is closer to expiring. The deal helped stabilize the conference in 2012 after Texas A&M left for the SEC.
Boren, however, added that the Big 12 schools, including Oklahoma and Texas, still remain committed to the league long term.
“There is not a single school in this conference looking to go elsewhere,” he said. “We are committed to each other. We are committed to this conference. We are committing to making the Big 12 conference as strong as possible.
“No one’s looking to walk away.”
Looking beyond the Big 12, this is terrific news for the American Athletic Conference. Cincinnati and UConn, the two flagship programs of the AAC, were thought to be overwhelming favorites (along with BYU) to join the Big 12 if they did indeed expand.
Also, the West Coast Conference will rest easy knowing that the BYU Cougars will remain the third fiddle to Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.
Big 12 expansion would’ve impacted multiple conferences across America and could’ve started another realignment (albeit a smaller one). After Monday, that possibility has been completely shut down.
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