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Boren needs his best politics to succeed at Big 12 meetings
- Updated: June 2, 2016
10:12 AM ET
As the Big 12 presidents and chancellors have descended on Irving, Texas, for the conference’s most critical set of meetings in years, David Boren faces one of the biggest tests of his post-political career.
David Boren has sought to expand the Big 12 and add a conference network. Torrey Purvey/Icon Sportswire
The University of Oklahoma president and newly appointed Big 12 board chair will attempt to persuade his dubious colleagues that his agenda — expanding the league, forming a conference network and adding a championship game — is crucial to preserve the Big 12’s existence.
Wednesday, that challenge seemed to get more daunting, as powerful Texas athletic director Mike Perrin declared he would oppose expansion. Perrin also said that Texas’ lucrative Longhorn Network, which would have to be fused into a conference network for the latter to have any viability, is virtually untouchable.
Because of his propensity in the past to speak out on his perceived ills of the Big 12, Boren has developed a reputation in the sports world for being temperamental.
Yet those who know Boren best from his days in Washington suggest that if it anyone has the temperament to build a consensus in the Big 12 toward action it’s him.
“He’s a master at finding common ground,” said Rep. Tom Cole, a seven-term Oklahoma Republican congressman. “If there’s way to arrive at an agreement with parties of a different point of view, he’ll find it.
“He has a way of getting people to think beyond themselves, to think about the greater good for the whole.”
Cole has seen, firsthand, Boren’s ability to overcome long political odds.
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In 1974, as a relatively unknown 33-year-old state legislator and small-college professor, Boren decided to make an improbable run for governor in Oklahoma. Boren was such an underdog to unseat …
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