The Big 12’s commissioner has been denying expansion rumors for almost 4 solid years now
A partial history of Bob Bowlsby’s time in office, as told via his comments on whether the league will expand beyond 10 teams soon. I might’ve missed some.
“Expansion is going to be a point of conversation for us,” he said, but added that he has “no preconceived notions” on whether 10, 11 or 12 teams is the right number.
“We have to,” he said. “It gets talked about at every conference meeting, and we have to talk about it, too. But I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with 10, and it needs to be a very high bar if we’re going to take anybody else in. We’re feeling pretty good about 10.”
As far as 10 vs. 12 talk, is the league unanimous on wanting to stay at 10 right now?
I haven’t had anybody come to me and say, “I know this is a minority position, but we need to keep thinking about expansion.” I know it’s a majority, if it came to a vote, that would say “We’d like to stay where we’re at.” Would there be some institution that would say, “Ah, I might consider expansion?” There could be. They haven’t expressed it to me.
“You and others may think I’m crazy,” he told CBSSports.com on Wednesday. “I think no one has proven to me that larger is better. ... If we had the opportunity geographically or financially for something that clearly moved the needle, we’d be on them.”
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says the 10-team league feels good about where it is right now while still keeping an eye on what is happening with other conferences across the country.
Asked if a consensus to stand pat at 10 members remains in place within the Big 12, Bowlsby said, “I haven’t had any indication that is not the case. We want to do this by empirical evidence, not gut reaction. That may lead us back to 10 (teams) or somewhere else.”
"For us, it's all about looking at the bottom line and looking at the quality of competition," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told "The Ticket" KTCK-AM (1310). "We feel pretty good about 10 now."
“We don’t have any plans to expand.”
As he has done repeatedly, Bowlsby reiterated that the league is comfortable with proceeding forward with 10 members because conference members are receiving high payouts per school and pleased with their access to the postseason.
Speaking at a function for Oklahoma State’s Spears School of Business, Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said it doesn’t make good business sense right now for the Big 12 to have a championship game.
“There could be circumstances that change, but 10 is the right position for us. We will be prepared for anything. We won’t just wait around and watch. But, we feel confident that 10 is the right number.”
“Ten is the right size for us,” Bowlsby said. “Are we oblivious? No, we can’t afford to be. But we are distributing a lot of money. We’re highly-competitive.”
“We’re not at 10 by default,” Bowlsby said. “We’re at 10 by choice. I think until we’re persuaded to do otherwise, that’s where we’ll continue to stay.”
“We’re not 10 by default. We’re 10 because we’ve gone through a considered process that tells us it’s the best situation for us right now. That’s not to say we would never add members. You can’t ever say never. But we’re 10 because we think 10 is the right number and because we haven’t been persuaded that larger is definitely better.”
“Adding two schools for the purpose of getting to 12 (to have a league championship game) would be among the poorest reasons to do it,” Bowlsby said.
“Ten is what we are and I think the status quo with all 10 schools committed and with grants of rights for all our media, we’re distributing the largest amount of money per school of any of the leagues right now and I don’t think any of our members want to change that,”
“I have not got the indication that the majority of our presidents feel [the Big 12 should expand]. I get the feeling that nothing has changed since we last discussed it.”
“It is my understanding at the present time that the majority of our presidents and chancellors believe 10 is the right number for us,” Bowlsby said.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody out there that really adds value,” Bowlsby said.
“We do not want to add members or be forced to play two divisions.”
“We don’t have any imperative for getting larger,” he said. “We haven’t really spent any time thinking about who the candidates are, if there are any candidates. But there has been media speculation about it. It doesn’t take any genius to look around and see where there may be prospects.”
