After the ongoing talks involving the expansion of the Big 12, it appears that the conference will not proceed with expansion.
It seems like it’s been ages since the Big 12 was atop of the college football world. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners were among the elite teams in college football. With two prestigious programs leading the charge, others like Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU and Kansas State others obtained success in their own right.
Thoughts surfaced of what could inject life into the conference, and the talks of expanding the conference occurred. In search of improving one of the most well-known conferences, expanding the Big 12 would bring relevancy back to the conference. With universities such as Houston, Cincinnati, BYU, and others vying to join the Big 12, it would give them more teams, which would allow them to go back to having a conference championship game.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Big 12’s TV partners are likely to pay the league not to expand to eliminate a loophole that enables the league to receive nearly $25 million annually for every school it adds. ESPN and Fox were reportedly not thrilled about the idea of paying for a bigger Big 12.
With the surplus of new teams, it would increase the strength of schedule in the conference that would increase their chances of having a representative in the College Football Playoff. As was seen in the inaugural year of the CFP, Baylor and TCU were on the outside looking in due to a lack of a conference championship game.
As time progresses, whispers about expansion seem unlikely. As meetings continue to unfold, Big 12 representatives will look to avoid the decline that was seen with the Southwest Conference.
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Monday is the verdict for what’s next for the Big 12, and from the looks of it, the possibility of expansion is dubious. If history tells us anything about the meetings with the higher-ups of the Big 12, it spells bad news for the once preeminent conference.