The Big 12 Conference expansion process has reached the first elimination stage.
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If you can believe a report from a website called TMGcollegesports, the Big 12 may be closer to actually naming the schools on a cut down of its expansion list, and the University of Memphis is on it.
That news came the day after veteran college writer Mark Blaudschun wrote for TMGCollegeSports.com that the Big 12 had narrowed its list to six to eight schools.
In the report, Blaudschun notes “word has it” that invitations have been sent to Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, UConn, South Florida and Central Florida from the American Athletic Conference, as well as BYU and two other unnamed schools from the AAC.
The Big 12 had the schools sign non-disclosure agreements. With nobody exactly sure who will be added, it’s official that East Carolina won’t be one of those schools.
Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby notified Compher and ECU Chancellor Dr. Cecil Staton of the decision.
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It’s probably too early in this process to read anything else into BYU, or any other program’s, chances, since if there is one thing we’ve learned about this process, it’s that things can change with the Big 12 in an instant. Each finalist is expected to make a presentation to Big 12 officials in the next few weeks. Our student-athletes, coaches and staff will continue to proudly compete for championships in the American Athletic Conference and we will represent our alumni and community with great resolve. This looks like it will go on into October, when the next Big 12 Board of Director’s Meeting is scheduled.
