Big 12 Expansion Update – Conference Meetings Underway

The Big 12 Conference meetings are underway in Kansas City, and as expected Conference Re-Alignment rumors and discussion have dominated the news on day one.

As I tweeted earlier, the “unofficial” indications are that Clemson and Florida State will be added to the conference, but again keep in mind this could very well be coming from the mouths of folks a bit lower on the totem pole than the decision makers.  Still, with the money available, never say never.

A tweet sent out from the official account of the Big 12 Conference stated interim (and outgoing) Commissioner Chuck Neidas saying after day one the athletic directors are committed to remaining at ten members.  Seems like a pretty decisive statement? Not really.

Rumors today indicate 8 schools are at least somewhat on board with expansion, with one being cautious and one firmly against it.  I’ll go out on a limb and guess the interested are Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Baylor, West Virginia, and TCU.  The cautious is Oklahoma and the against is Texas.

Texas is going to do all it can to protect its interests and standing, hence why DeLoss Dodds will throw a rock at anyone that claims the Conference is going to grow.  OU is doing the same, but in a much more behind the scenes manner.  Texas has a lot of stroke, but remember it was Oklahoma that got Dan Beebe fired.

As with the courtships last year of Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC, the Big 12 Conference risks being sued for tortuous interference, and must tread carefully. Basically this means the conference would open itself up to liability for going after other conferences schools without them approaching the conference first. With huge TV contracts and other money streams, the Big 12’s liability could be huge. Should Florida State, Clemson, or anyone else approach them first and apply to join, the conference theoretically isn’t liable because they didn’t ask first. Hope that makes sense to everyone.

Another thing to keep in mind about that tweet is who it came from and what was said. Chuck Neidas is not the long term commissioner of the Big 12. Come the 15^th of June, Bob Bowlsby is, and Bowlsby has already gone on record as saying he will be “vigilant” in expansion of the conference. Additionally, the Athletic Directors have no real say in expansion, its all up to the Commissioner and Board of Directors.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, Clemson Board Chairman David Wilkins has gone on record as saying they’ve not been contacted by anyone, but they would consider any viable option presented to them by any conference.  In other words, this was a perfectly executed public statement letting the Big 12 know Clemson is ready when they are.  We covered a bit of Florida State’s financial situation previously and they can’t (and won’t) leave that kind of cash on the table.

It should be noted however that Florida State does have a valid concern that joining the conference with Clemson would mean they’d get a division with lightweights at the bottom like Kansas and Iowa State, as well as little access to games vs the Texas schools.  I expect Bowlsby to settle that one decisively when he takes over.

I see no reason why Florida State and most likely Clemson won’t play their first Big 12 Conference football games September 2014 at the latest.  Wait for Bowlsby to take over, and wait for the final setting of the new college football playoffs later this summer.  We will have more on this and the Big 12 meetings as it develops on HornSports.com, where our information and forums are free, and always will be.

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