This week as the Big 12 Conference is starting to sort out its next moves following the pending departures of Texas and Oklahoma, league commissioner Bob Bowlsby has been meeting with the athletic directors from the eight remaining schools.
On Wednesday evening, the conference released a statement about the meetings attributed to Bowlsby. In truth, the statement was incredibly vague and perhaps very predictable, but it at least offered a bit of insight into the nature of the conversations that have taken place, particularly as it relates to the idea of adding schools to the conference.
“The eight ADs remain committed to furthering the Big 12 as one of the nation’s premier athletic conferences, and look forward to working with our presidents and chancellors to strengthen the league,” Bowlsby said. “Future exploration by the group will continue to center on options that best position the long-term strength of the conference.”
Last week, The Athletic’s Max Olson reported that BYU is one school the Big 12 is already “seriously discussing” adding, while a number of others in Group of Five conferences — most notably Boise State of the Mountain West Conference and multiple schools in the American Athletic Conference — have been bandied about by pundits as potential additions.