Big 12 Conference votes against expansion, to remain at 10 member schools

DALLAS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Three months after announcing it would begin evaluating potential expansion candidates, the Big 12 Conference voted Monday to remain at 10 schools.

The league announced Monday that the Big 12's Board of Directors voted not to add any universities.

"We had a very thoughtful and candid meeting which showed a great deal of strength in the Conference," Dr. David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma and Chair of the Big 12 Board of Directors, said in a statement. "We have a strong commitment from every single member of the board to the cohesiveness and stability of the Conference."

For weeks, the league evaluated nearly two dozen schools across the country for possible admission -- a notion largely based on growing its brand and expanding into new and lucrative television markets. The Big 12 is the smallest of the NCAA's "Power Five" conferences.

In the end, though, the league's membership apparently decided that none of the candidate programs added enough value to make an expansion fiscally rewarding.

Because growing from 10 to 12 or 14 teams would have added more partners with which to share revenue, any new schools would have needed to bring significant monetary value to keep existing members from having taking a pay cut. Apparently, the league decided that none of the potential candidates offered that.

"Ten presidents came together in unity and came to the same conclusion," Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday. "We like the competition model we have with the full round robin. We do a very good job in competing at the highest level and this decision in part was a celebration. It was an endorsement and reinvestment in the strength of the 10 we have."

The league was expected Monday to either announce which schools it had selected or announce it had chosen not to expand.

Earlier this year, the conference announced it will add a championship game for football beginning in 2017, a prospect that's expected to boost its chances of regularly being included in the four-team College Football Playoff.

The league also said it will continue to explore additional revenue streams, such as digital coverage and distribution options.

The top frontrunners to join the conference, the University of Houston and University of Cincinnati, will now remain in the American Athletic Conference. Colorado State, Memphis and the University of South Florida were also believed to have been potential expansion targets.

"We believe -- in our fight, in our family, in our future," Cincinnati President Beverly Davenport tweeted Monday.

"We appreciate and respect the Big 12's process for considering expansion and know that this is a decision they have looked at thoroughly," Colorado State University President Tony Frank said Monday. "Our commitment to excellence in all we do remains steadfast and unwavering."

"I would like to extend our thanks to Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and the leadership of the Big 12 Conference for their thoughtful interest in our university," USF System President Judy Genshaft said in a statement. "Our athletic program is on a strong trajectory ... We have a great story to tell, and this is only the beginning."

The last time the conference expanded, it added TCU and West Virginia in 2012.