clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Could the Big 12 expand before Texas and Oklahoma leave?

Brett McMurphy is reporting that all four additions to the Big 12 could arrive before Texas and Oklahoma are gone.

Big 12 Championship - Iowa State v Oklahoma Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Reports spread quickly on Thursday morning after The Athletic’s Max Olson broke the news that BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston have emerged as the frontrunners to join the Big 12 Conference.

On Friday morning two big developments occurred. First, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston is reporting that Big 12 Presidents will have a conference call on Monday to discuss expansion and issuing invitations to BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, and Central Florida.

Meanwhile, Brett McMurphy of Action Network HQ reported that offers to join could go out as early as next month, and BYU could join as early as next year (with the other three joining shortly thereafter).

He also indicated that all of this could take place before Texas and Oklahoma leave for the SEC.

The comedy of making Texas play Houston and BYU would, frankly, be quite enjoyable.

This is an incredibly interesting development in the Big 12’s quest to expand, however, as it indicates that the Big 12 could actually grow to 14 before shrinking back down to 12 once the Horns and Sooners are gone.

It leads to questions about what divisions and scheduling look like, but this is one option:

Southwest Division:

  • TCU
  • Baylor
  • Texas Tech
  • Texas
  • Oklahoma
  • Oklahoma State
  • BYU

Northeast Division:

  • Kansas
  • Kansas State
  • Iowa State
  • West Virginia
  • Cincinnati
  • UCF
  • Houston

Houston would shift to the Southeast Division upon the departure of Texas and OU. As for scheduling, you have your six division games, a “yearly rival” (TCU-WVU, OU-ISU, etc.) in the other division, and three more games from the other division. Ten conference games plus two non-conference opportunities.

All that to say - I’m glad the Big 12 is no longer in “passive mode” waiting for Texas and Oklahoma to do what they’re going to do and responding. It seems Bob Bowlsby and Co. are working with a sense of urgency to keep the Big 12 in a position to be viable.