Currently with 10 members, the Big 12 is looking at possible expansion plans that include adding two to four more members to the conference.
As the bonanza of conference expansion has taken place in the world of college sports over the last half decade, the Big 12 was the one league that suffered the most, losing two members (Nebraska Cornhuskers to the Big Ten, Colorado Buffaloes to the Pac-12) and eliminating their football title game at the end of each season.
Since then, talk has always been swirling that the conference would eventually bring in some more members, but it has been met with some resistance from current members and even the Big 12 commissioner, who thinks things are just fine they way they are.
Now, it appears that the Big 12 Conference is warming to the idea. The Dallas Morning News is reporting that, after recent meetings in Arizona, commissioner Bob Bowlsby confirmed the league has hired a firm to crunch numbers on adding at least two more members and a title game:
"Bowlsby said the numbers indicate that adding a championship game — a 13th data point, in playoff lingo — along with expansion to 12 teams and an eight-game conference schedule is the best hope for the playoff. That combination increases a conference’s playoff chances by about 5 percent, according to the models."
The Big 12 Conference was left out of the first College Football Playoff in 2014 after, without a championship game, they split their conference championship between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Baylor Bears and cost themselves a spot. The 2015 champion Oklahoma Sooners did make the playoff, but were defeated in the semifinal by the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl.
At the same time, one of the reasons for expansion would also be to create a conference-wide television network, similar to what the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have. That is not sitting well with the Texas Longhorns, who have their own network and do not want to give it up, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer:
"In 2011, Texas launched the Longhorn Network after signing a deal with ESPN that pays the university $295 million over 20 years. But it’s been a bust so far, having lost $48 million.Big 12 leaders have been in talks about essentially converting the Longhorn Network into the Big 12 Network, sources said. In return, Texas would still make more money from the network than any other school."
Some of the early favorites to join the Big 12 if they do expand include the BYU Cougars, Boise State Broncos, Memphis Tigers, South Florida Bulls and the Cincinnati Bearcats.
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