Biggest questions to answer now in Big 12 expansion

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IRVING, Texas — The last week in the Big 12 was, well, so very Big 12.

Going into the week, few, even insiders within the conference, would’ve predicted that the league would stunningly vote to pursue expansion.

Even fewer could’ve guessed that two days later the University of Texas would throw its weight behind the one expansion candidate prevailing wisdom suggested the Longhorns would’ve been dead-set on blocking.

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The Big 12 is on the hunt for new members. There are legitimate contenders, such as BYU and Cincinnati, and there are hopefuls, wild cards and even a potential Power 5 defector.

Even by Big 12 standards, it was a wild week for the conference – setting the tone for what should be a dramatic couple of months that figures to shape the immediate future of the Big 12, while also determining its long-term viability.

“The Big 12 marches to the beat of its own drum,” one industry insider said.

“It’s incredibly fascinating.”

What happened?

When the presidents and chancellors entered the conference room at the Four Seasons hotel in Irving last Tuesday, the expectation around the league and among the leadership of expansion hopefuls was that the Big 12 would finally quash the expansion debate, at the very least in the interim.

Oklahoma president David Boren had been pushing for expansion, but in conjunction with the implementation of a conference network. He rightly believed more eyeballs and content would be critical to getting a network off the ground. But when the TV partners balked during the three-day Big 12 meetings in June, Boren backed off expansion, too.

What University of Oklahoma president David Boren (left) seeks in expansion candidates remains to be seen, but it’ll weigh largely on Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby’s decision. LM Otero/AP Photo

Monday of last week, however, the expansion flame that had seemingly been doused was reignited. That evening, multiple reports surfaced that the ACC and ESPN had agreed to a deal on a conference network beginning in 2019 – leaving the Big 12 as the only major conference without a network.

It’s unclear as to whether the ACC network revelation was the impetus to the Big 12 taking expansion action. But to whatever level, it was a factor, according to multiple sources. So too were the — as commissioner Bob Bowlsby put it — “conclusionary presentations” of the Big 12’s hired consultants BHV and Navigate Research, which have been pushing for the conference to be more aggressive to enhance its long-term stability. The combination of the two resulted in a unanimous vote authorizing Bowlsby to begin negotiating with expansion candidates.

“While we had a setback in terms of interest from media partners on a conference network. … there seems to be some competitive advantage (for expansion) to get into a playoff, and obviously financial advantages,” Boren told ESPN.com last week. “We’re going to continue to look at those questions, separate and apart from the potential of any kind of a network.”

That, however, wouldn’t be the only Big 12 bombshell.

What is Texas up to?

As surprising as the expansion announcement was, Texas president Greg Fenves’ sudden endorsement of the University of Houston’s candidacy over Twitter was just as shocking. The common-held thought around the league was that Texas would be Houston’s biggest roadblock to Big 12 entry; instead, the Longhorns have emerged, at least on the surface, as Houston’s champion.

But are Texas’ motives pure?

The Austin American-Statesman was the first to report late last week that Texas might be more interested in building a $450 million research center on 300 acres of land in Houston than simply helping the Cougars get into the Big 12.

Since the inception of the conference, when Texas Governor Ann Richards helped Baylor get into the league, Texas state politics have played a heavy part in every realignment turn in the Big 12.

This time could be no different.

University of Texas president Gregory Fenves (center) has publicly stated his support for …

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