The Big 12 expansion saga took another turn Tuesday, one that likely has Colorado State fans giddy.
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Bowlsby later indicated to CBSSports.com that they have previously been contacted by 25 schools.
We might have two (and four) frontrunners now, even though coaches only have so much power here. It’s a distinction many sources at Tulane believe is a critical factor in their pitch to those Big 12 presidents, who have seen the league lose three AAU members (Colorado, Missouri, Texas A&M) and not gain any in the past five years.
With the 2016 draft in the rearview mirror, we’re taking a look at the upcoming college football season.
As it is now constructed, the Big 12 is the smallest of the Power 5 football conferences with only 10 member institutions. However, will the other Big 12 teams in Texas want to add Houston?
Memphis, Cincinnati, BYU, Central Florida and South Florida have been mentioned as leading Big 12 expansion candidates. Rankings will be based on what these schools have to offer to the conference, from athletic prowess and even area television markets. “Sometimes you may think you have to change your cell phone number because the number of schools that want to express interest in coming to join the Big 12 Conference”.
Multiple Big 12 sources indicated that Cincinnati and CT top the Big 12’s “fluid”, so-called “wish list”, but Oklahoma president David Boren noted that the Big 12 is still open to expanding by two or four teams. New members would likely start with a percentage of what the current members earn.
The Big 12, possibly featuring 12 teams sometime soon.
But the issue becomes, who to add?
The Big 12 coaches were in Bristol, Connecticut, on Wednesday as part of their annual “Car Wash” on ESPN’s campus.
When the Big 12 held its meetings in June, they told potential expansion targets to stop calling. Most of the history-rich schools now reside in other Power Five conferences, leaving the Big 12 with some tough decisions to ensure the conference isn’t watered down.
If you follow the Big 12 Blog, you knew everything that was said during Media Days, the Baylor situation and the league’s expansion plans.
Cincinnati: The school has a huge enrollment, is located in a recruiting hotbed other than Texas (Ohio) and posted a 12-0 record in 2009 while narrowly missing a spot in the BCS national title game that 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. Interestingly, the conference will consider adding football-only members.
After the debacle down in Baylor stole the show throughout the early portion of the day, the conference made an announcement that really raised some eyebrows following a meeting between school presidents. Boren said expansion by two or four teams is on the table. “We’re looking at the fanbase; we’re looking at access to media markets”.
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The committee also is asking athletes and administrators to work together on a definition of “required athletically-related activities”, to provide more information to recruits about time-demand expectations and sport-specific reviews of in-season and offseason schedules and all countable “athletically-related activities”.
