Oklahoma President David Boren started the ball rolling on Big 12 expansion, and if this summer move saves that league from implosion, credit the Chief Sooner for standing up.
A year ago, Boren spoke publicly, a president in a league where colleagues could not find a voice or a plan. Boren said the Big 12 was “psychologically disadvantaged” to take on a major role in the college playoff system unless it answered the questions about a league title game and adding other teams.
Boren’s simple phrase led to wholesale speculation, debate and intense examination of the issue.
That led to the Big 12 presidents forming an expansion committee with Boren as chairman. That led to a decision to hire a firm to farm data. That led to a late June meeting where presidents declared they’d let the spreadsheets do the talking. And when the numbers hit the whiteboards and binders, the answer was clear: Expand.
It’s been a crazy, almost maniacal feeding frenzy since Boren brought it all to a head. Members of the American Athletic Conference have gone bonkers with campaigns, Memphis getting FedEx CEO Fred Smith and entertainer Justin Timberlake involved. Houston squeezed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and made it political. Cincinnati has made strong overtures and brought on board corporations like Kroger and Macy’s who have headquarters there. Houston has oil money.
On the BYU side, it’s been crickets.
If for any other reason, refusing to publicly campaign is out of respect for relationships in the WCC and avoiding the circus.
A year after former Cougar football coach Bronco Mendenhall actively campaigned for Big 12 and Power 5 inclusion from his independent perch, Big 12 expansion talk got hot and BYU’s administration grew silent.
Why?
Because the Big 12 presidents pitched Boren’s vision to highly paid number crunchers. They contracted with outside researchers and turned them loose in a field of digital corn stalk.
No need to go Madison Avenue in Provo. Godfather author Mario Puzo wrote that a lawyer with a briefcase can do more than an army with guns and knives. Or media circus. Tom Holmoe’s (briefcase) numbers do all the talking.
The Big 12 will likely proceed with expansion plans in weeks to come. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told reporters this week the league would like to finish it off before the college football season kicks off.
I’ve maintained since Texas Gov. Ann Richards demanded Baylor be included in the first Big Eight expansion that BYU would someday be part of that league. I’ve never wavered on that prognostication as the topic has surfaced, even after the implosion of 2010 when TCU and West Virginia were invited. Criticism aside, I never changed my tune.
If and when expansion teams are announced, I’d expect BYU inclusion. But once again, anything could happen, including a reversal to stay at 10.
This past week, plenty of media voices opining around the country have joined in commentary that BYU will be or should be added to the Big 12.
Wrote Jason Kirk, Sportsnation.com college sports editor: “If Big 12 presidents were to vote on the rest of a list right now, I'd be willing to bet it'd be BYU, then Cincinnati, and then some mix of Houston, Memphis and UConn. But if your list doesn't start with BYU, crumple it up and try harder.”
When ESPN did a poll of Big 12 head coaches, who don’t have a vote, BYU and Houston came out on top.
Daily Oklahoman veteran columnist Berry Tramel told ESPN 960 in Utah this week taking BYU first was a no-brainer.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter: “Houston, BYU and Cincinnati should all feel reasonably optimistic about their chances in the event of a two-team expansion. Everyone else should be rooting hard for four.”
Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples: “BYU is probably the strongest football brand and the most devoted fan base of any of the candidates. “
Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “BYU must be involved. Conference expansion is all about football and finances, regardless of the league digesting the data … a BYU addition make(s) too much sense for the Big 12 to overlook.”
Dennis Dodd, CBSsports.com columnist: “BYU is the leader in the clubhouse because they most resemble a Power 5 team and have already won a national championship.
“It will be BYU and a combination of others,” said Dodd.
Boren started this but it remains to be seen if an expansion move would bring stability to a league known for plenty of dysfunction, a league that is sometimes led around by a strong University of Texas political voice.
Nobody’s said this is a done deal.
The Big 12 is known for zig-zagging its way through the college football scene, sometimes kinda blind. But the past two weeks have brought college football’s biggest summer story to a crescendo. All we need is an ending to the directional drama.
Perhaps Boren is the one man who’s found a compass.
EMAIL: dharmon@deseretnews.com.
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