The Big 12 and commissioner Bob Bowlsby still has work to do to whittle the field down. The financial benefits and program visibility by joining the Big 12 would be a significant boon for a good amount of teams being considered.
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Academics seem to have been an issue for Memphis.
Those 11 schools are Air Force, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, Colorado State, Houston, Rice, South Florida, SMU and Tulane.
The Big 12 has not committed to expanding, but Bowlsby and Oklahoma President David Boren said in July that it would consider adding two or four schools.
The flurry of Big 12 Expansion reports going out on websites, Twitter, and wherever you want to look, are enough to make you insane.
ESPN reported Friday that Memphis, which was perceived to be among the frontrunners for expansion, is no longer being considered by the conference.
However, ESPN then reported the finalist list included at least 12 schools – and said it “could not confirm whether Memphis, which was also under consideration by the league, made the cut”.
The Tigers, now coached by Mike Norvell, will host Southeast Missouri State on Saturday in their season opener.
In a bit of a surprise, Memphis is reportedly out of the running for a spot in an expanded Big 12.
Memphis released a statement from university president M. David Rudd stating he would not comment on the Big 12 process and referred to a portion of the nondisclosure agreement the school had with the conference. Memphis alum and FedEx president Fred Smith had pledged his company’s sponsorship for Big 12 events if the school was invited to join the conference.
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“We strongly support the university’s efforts to become a member of an expanded Big 12 athletic conference”, Smith wrote to Rudd in a letter dated February 23. The league, sources said, is more interested in teams that can strengthen and add value to the league as opposed to schools that need to be “propped up” by the league.
