The Big 12 will not expand beyond its 10 teams for the time being. Here’s how Twitter handled the Power 5 conference’s decision to keep it tight at 10.
On Monday evening at 6:30 PM ET, the Board of Directors of the Big 12 had their press conference as promised about potential expansion talks. It had considered expanding to 12 and maybe even as many as 14 teams.
However, the Power 5 conference has informed us that it will keep it tight at 10 member institutions. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren met with the media to say that the Big 12 was not looking to expand at this time.
Boren said that it was a unanimous vote by all 10 member institutions to prevent further expansion. It clearly seems that the conference was trying to make headway without doing the work of its Power 5 contemporaries.
It was a sad media spectacle and the fate of the Big 12 may be coming to an end here shortly. In an era of college football where conferences are choosing to be proactive, the Power 5 conference remains stuck in the past. This was anything but a good look for the conference on Monday evening.
The Big 12 isn't going to expand, but it is going to flex in every photo to try to look bigger and more impressive.
— Big 12 Refs (@Big12Refs) October 17, 2016
How different would the world look if the Big 12 had added Louisville and Pitt along with TCU and West Va in 2011
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 17, 2016
The only surprising thing about Big12 deciding not to expand is that the Big 12 did the thing ppl thought it would.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 17, 2016
Sources: if white smoke emerges from Big 12's chimney today, league will expand. If it's gray smoke, then it's pulled pork for lunch
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 17, 2016
@UofTX and @LonghornNetwork ruined the Big 12. #Greed
— RachelroyalKC (@rachelroyalkc) October 17, 2016
If Big-12 added other schools and not BYU, you could make an argument that LGBT had impact. ESPN/Fox is the reason for today.
— Bryan Mortensen (@Bemorte) October 17, 2016
I was hoping to see some hats laid out on the Big 12 table.
— Bobby G (@BobGaducci) October 17, 2016
The last 20 minutes, which has been a streaming video of empty chairs, is the most lucid Big 12 reps have been in years.
— No Escalators (@NoEscalators) October 17, 2016
i guess microphones are another thing that big 12 is too stupid to figure out
— A Dime Back (@ADimeBack) October 17, 2016
Big 12 remains at 10 members. Math? Who needs math?
— Derek Redd (@derekredd) October 17, 2016
This was not a productive meeting. The conference could have added major media markets like Cincinnati, Ohio, Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah into the fold, but arrogance and greed may have sealed their fate.
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Adding a championship game in is not going to change the league’s perception. This press conference made this Power 5 conference look so bad. If there was any hope that it would get a team into the College Football Playoff this season, it went to the wayside as soon as Boren opened his mouth. This was a huge waste over everyone’s time. It’s like watching the demise of the Big East all over again.