BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe has informed Big 12 Conference leaders that the Provo school is interested in being part of the conference.
According to a report from ESPN's Jake Trotter on Friday afternoon, Holmoe has made the desire formally known, and is willing to talk about joining the conference in football only.
"We're obviously open to listening to what they want to do," Holmoe told Trotter. "We're going to go through this process with an open mind to listen to what they have to say."
One of the hurdles that will have to be worked through should the Cougars be added to the Big 12 is the fact that the conference schedules many games on Sundays in sports other than football, and BYU has long had a policy that it won't play on that day.
While joining in football only is an option Holmoe is willing to consider, he told Trotter that joining the conference in all sports would be his preference.
Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced on Tuesday that the conference will begin seriously looking at expansion candidates. It currently has 10 member schools and could look to add as many as four more.
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.