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Report: Big 12 not going to expand for 2017

By John Buhler

Oct 24, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; The Big 12 logo on the chains during a game between the Baylor Bears and the Iowa State Cyclones at McLane Stadium. Baylor won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; The Big 12 logo on the chains during a game between the Baylor Bears and the Iowa State Cyclones at McLane Stadium. Baylor won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Big 12 is reportedly not going to expand beyond 10 teams entering the 2017 NCAA season. The conference was going to make an announcement at 6:30 PM ET.

The Big 12 had announced to the world its plans for possibly adding a few teams to the conference. However, that may not be the case.

According to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, the Big 12 is not likely to add any new teams, but are discussing ways to increase television revenue with ESPN and Fox.


The Big 12 said it would reveal its decision at 6:30 PM ET on Monday, October 17th on its plans to add member institutions to the Power 5 conference. The two most likely teams to get bids would have been the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Houston Cougars.

Cincinnati would have been a great fit because of its geographical proximity to West Virginia, its massive media market in Ohio, and that the Bearcats are good at both football and basketball. Houston was going to be a harder sell, as the Cougars would have been the fifth Texas team to get into the Big 12.

If this holds true, this was a sneaky plan for the Power 5 conference to get more television money without having to add more teams to its conference. The Big 12 remains the smallest of the Power 5 conferences with just 10 member institutions. The Pac-12 has 12 schools, and the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC all have 14 universities.

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Asking ESPN and FOX for money television money is a bit strange, but understandable. Media markets like Denver, Salt Lake City, and Cincinnati were on the table via expansion. FOX clearly didn’t want to pay the Big 12 more money for more teams. Now they might just pay more money.

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