Say hello to the Big 12.
The expanded Big Eight, which plucked Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M out of the dying Southwest Conference in February, announced Monday its new name would be what everyone had assumed."I think it's nice to have a name in place," Colorado chancellor James Corbridge said. "We looked at a number of names. None had the allure of Big 12, although there were some catchy names suggested."
Except for contractual matters, the Big Eight will still be called the Big Eight through the 1996 football season. At that time, pending possible change, the 12 schools plan to integrate their schedules in all sports.
In the meantime, the four Texas newcomers will continue as part of the Southwest Conference until after the 1996 football season unless three other members of the disintegrating SWC - Rice, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian - choose to get started before then in a proposed expanded Western Athletic Conference. The eighth former SWC school, Houston, is still without a conference.
The Big 12 presidents will meet in Ames, Iowa, next month and must approve any decision the athletic directors, faculty representatives, football coaches and women's administrators make this week in Kansas City. Gerald Lage, Oklahoma State faculty representative, said his group may not even come up with a recommendation this week on divisional setups.
Uncertainty over the WAC's plans and the national college football scene is making it tough for the Big 12 to make long-term plans.
Officials were deluged with name suggestions. One was "The Dirty Dozen," owing to the fact all 12 have served time on NCAA probation.
Corbridge said another name - the Big 14 - may not be out of the question in the future.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a Big 14. But knowing what we know now, I don't think we're likely to make a decision on that earlier than a couple of years down the line.
"That's on the agenda for the June meeting of the CEOs and my own expectation is there will probably be an announcement that we're not going to consider further expansion for some time in the future."