The majority of diehard fans already know this, but the Big 12 won’t be adding schools at any point in the near future.
Earlier today, ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy published this interesting piece on the league’s future and specifically, what could have happened back in 2011 had the league blown up.
First things first, there are two quotes within the piece that need to be highlighted. Both come from West Virginia’s athletic director Oliver Luck.
"Expansion is one thing we’re (the Big 12) not talking about," Luck said.
That’s pretty cut and dry.
And the most important nugget from this piece is this quote regarding schools “out there” that could potentially add value to the Big 12’s television revenue, which we all know is what this comes down to.
From McMurphy’s piece: “Luck added that there are no "available teams" — schools from the non-Power 5 leagues — that would add value to the Big 12’s per school revenue.”
That includes BYU, who just last week pandered via the Austin American-Statesmanto be considered to join the Big 12.
As for what could have been back in 2011, it has been out there for a while but to my knowledge, this is the first time that the Big 12-Big East contingency plan has been discussed on the record by anybody that matters (Others, including Jamie Pollard, have hinted but never talked this openly about it).
Luck said that a conference that included: Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU, Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati, Rutgers, West Virginia, South Florida and UCF was on the table.
That wouldn’t have produced current Big 12 money but it sure as hell beats being in the MAC too.
