Bob Bowlsby: No expansion for Big 12

After a year of speculation and a thousand stories about Big 12 expansion candidates, the jury is in.  At least a jury of one, anyway.  Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was as adamant as ever Monday when he nixed the idea on the first day of the league's media days. Speaking from the Omni Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas, Bowlsby noted that while there is some dissent among Big 12 presidents on the subject of expansion he believes that most Big 12 presidents and athletic directors are content with the conference's current configuration of 10 schools.

When reminded about Oklahoma's president David Boren declaring in June that the Big 12 conference is disadvantaged in the new playoff system without 12 teams, Bowlsby disagreed.

"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 offered. "There are those that believe we should get larger, and they feel strongly about it. There are those who believe we should stay at 10, and they feel strongly about it. And there are probably four or five in the middle who are persuadable one way or the other. And I think that's exactly where we're at."

He took issue with the idea that the Big 12 was at a disadvantage in reference to the playoffs and noted, "I don't think one year makes a trend."

But he also added that if the league was shut out of the College Football Playoff once again, the conference would have to take another look at their options. One route they are presently pursuing is in seeking a rule change that would deregulate post season play and allow a 10-team conference to have a playoff game. He expects that to pass.

The only 10-member league in the FBS is the Big 12.