Big 12 decides no expansion following meeting Monday

DALLAS, Texas — The saga of Big 12 expansion took another turn Monday afternoon, and this time, the soap opera-esque movement that sometimes bordered on reality television appears to be dead.

At least for the foreseeable future.

The league’s presidents met Monday near the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport and voted unanimously to no longer consider expansion as an active item, commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced via press conference.

“We do not consider it an active agenda item any longer,” Bowlsby said. “It is certainly not a decision where we would say we’re never going to consider it again. But it’s not an active agenda item at this time.”

Oklahoma president David Boren, who also acts as the chair of the Big 12 board of directors reiterated Bowlsby’s sentiments. Boren has long been a proponent of Big 12 expansion, and at times has even openly advocated for the inclusion of BYU.

“We would never say never,” Boren said. “But we do feel it would be wrong to indicate that it is an active agenda item, because it no longer is at this point.”

Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel first reported the decision and ESPN's Jake Trotter also confirmed the news prior to the conference’s announcement.

The news came after as many as 19 schools made formal proposals to the university indicating why they should be included as the 10-team league considered expanding to 12. BYU was once considered among the favorites to garner the bid when Bowlsby and the board of directors announced the conference was actively considering expansion in July during board meetings and Big 12 media days.

The expansion initiative was also announced at a time when conference member Baylor faced increased scrutiny over a rash of sexual assault allegations that led to the firing of head football coach Art Briles and the release of several university officials, including former president Ken Starr’s resignation.

“The board did not make an expansion vote in July. They acted to charge me to go out and consider candidate,” Bowlsby said. “But there was no expansion vote taken. I think we were very careful not to have it construed as that. It was an exploratory process.”

In a statement released through associate athletic director Duff Tittle, the Cougars — a football independent that competes in the West Coast Conference in most other sports — reiterated a longstanding talking point that the school believes it is currently operating at a Power 5 level.

“Over the last few months, BYU has learned a lot about its strengths as an institution and as an athletic department,” the statement read. “Through our in-depth review, we have reinforced valuable relationships and have been reminded how strong we are as a university.

“BYU strives to run its athletic program like a P5 institution. Our national fan base and broadcasting ratings, along with the many historical and recent successes of our teams, attest we certainly belong. We believe BYU can significantly contribute to the athletic and academic excellence of a P5 conference.”

BYU’s status as one of the leading candidates for expansion began strong, as the Cougars would bring a national following, an independent football team, and a quality football history to the conference. Houston and Cincinnati were among the other leading candidates, which also included Air Force, Central Florida, Colorado State, Connecticut, Rice, SMU, South Florida and Tulane.

The Cougars’ candidacy, however, took a hit in August when a group of LGBTQ advocacy groups led by Athlete Ally sent a letter to the Big 12 urging the league not to include BYU in expansion efforts because of the LDS Church-owned institution’s stance on gay relationships under the school’s honor code.

“The Big 12 is a conference committed to sportsmanship, fair play and inclusion both on and off the playing field,” the letter read. “Adding a school like BYU to your membership while it still champions anti-LGBT policies and practices would greatly undermine these Big 12 values.”

The letter was followed by action by a few Big 12 student governments, including Iowa State, urging similar action against BYU’s Big 12 candidacy.

But no school seemed to be a slam-dunk candidate, including BYU and its social issues. Houston’s candidacy was openly favored by several schools, including the president of the University of Texas. But the red-clad Cougars, who are 18-2 since the arrival of former Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman nearly two years ago, are also home to an NFL market that is prime recruiting territory for other Big 12 schools like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor.

Sports Illustrated reported Friday night that television partners Fox and ESPN are willing to pay the league’s current 10 members to close the pro rata clause in its current TV contract that would pay nearly $25 million annually for each school added. The Big 12’s current contract with ESPN and Fox runs through 2025, with an accompanying grant of rights that keeps the league’s member institutions from leaving for another conference in the interim.

“If they put more money up and bought out that pro rata clause, we’ll like keep ourselves at 10,” SI’s Pete Thamel reported.

BYU appeared to have a key ally in the Big 12 expansion race in Oklahoma president Boren, who once publicly called the league “psychologically disadvantaged” with its current 10 teams when compared to the rest of the Power 5 conferences. But Boren has walked back those comments recently, and optimism towards expansion has waned in the weeks since August.

“Any time you make a statement, it has to do with the context in which you're saying it and the circumstances in which you're saying it,” Boren said. “The circumstances have radically changed. My thoughts about expansion have really centered around the possibility in the past of whether or not we could have a conference network.

“I felt that we were at that time disadvantaged because we did not have a conference network. I still wish and hope someday, who knows which form of technology it will take, we will perhaps someday have a branded conference network of some kind.”

The Big 12 requires a simple majority of at least eight member schools to add additional conference opponents. No candidate garnered a plurality of votes, leading to the unanimous vote not to expand, Bowlsby confirmed.

The league also holds on to a grant of rights that prohibits any league member from leaving the conference through 2025, unless the institution pays a multimillion dollar fee to the other schools and the Big 12 offices. The grant of rights came at the condition of the league’s current television contract with Fox and ESPN, but it was not amended, extended or removed during Monday’s meetings.

“The grant of rights has come up in the past at a time in which we have been negotiating contracts with our media partners and otherwise,” Boren said. “So, in other words, it's always been in the context of a proposed deal, if you want to say it that way, proposed agreement that would lead to longer-term media contracts, with certain provisions in them.

“So that's when you consider grant of rights. As we begin to approach the end of our current term of contract, which is approximately eight years, I think undoubtedly you're going to see a whole series of discussions about what are the prospects, how will the contracts be renewed or changed.”

None of those, of course, is news to BYU's Kalani Sitake. The first-year head coach made his feelings pretty clear when asked about Big 12 expansion during his Monday morning briefing, preferring instead to focus on the Cougars' Thursday night game at No. 14 Boise State.

"I’m not talking to anyone except for our team and our players, and focusing on a great team that is ranked nationally and undefeated," Sitake said. "We are going into their home, and that’s taking every bit of our attention right now. That’s all we are focused on.”

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