The "absurd soap opera unfolding in the Big 12 continued at warp speed Thursday," though the lone certainty of the conference's spring meetings is that expansion will "not be approved by league presidents during Friday's final voting session," according to Jimmy Burch of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. Big 12 administrators on Thursday showed a "wishy-washy resolve on key topics." Burch: "Between the Baylor bungle, the mixed expansion signals from Texas and the Big 12's reversal of an approved rule within 24 hours, it's a wonder so many expansion candidates are hungry to take a bite out of this dysfunctional apple. But money talks, so they are" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/3). In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff writes, "Unlike realignment five years ago, when the Big 12 lost Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M, and picked up TCU and West Virginia, the conference isn't making moves to survive the next season" (K.C. STAR, 6/3). Oklahoma President and Big 12 BOD Chair David Boren said the conference is "in a position of strength" and would "rather be right than hasty" on possible expansion. Boren: "We're not in any crisis where we have to decide something very quickly." In Houston, Joseph Duarte notes Boren also was "asked if the Big 12 might be able to raid a couple of members" from other Power Five conferences. Boren: "We have to be realistic about the schools that are available." The Big 12 on Friday also will "release its revenue distribution." A year ago, the conference "posted record revenue" of $252M, or $25.2M per school (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/3).
SHOW YOUR HAND: In Austin, Kirk Bohls writes under the header, "A Softer, Kinder, Pro-Big 12 David Boren Emerges From League Meetings." Boren "played his latest hand" at the end of the Thursday's meetings and "had clearly softened his hard-line stance of the previous months." Boren also "backed off his much-circulated quote about the Big 12 being 'psychologically disadvantaged' and said it wasn't imperative that every league have the exact same financial situations 'penny for penny.'" He "hinted that the Big 12 financial intake" will be "much rosier than some have suggested" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6/3). ESPN.com's Jake Trotter wrote because Boren "has a propensity for speaking out on his perceived ills of the Big 12," he has "developed a reputation in the sports world as temperamental." Yet those who "know Boren best" from his days in DC politics "suggest that if anyone has the temperament to build a consensus in the Big 12 toward action, it's him" (ESPN.com, 6/2).
ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: In Austin, Brian Davis notes one day after Texas men's AD Mike Perrin suggested the conference remain at 10 teams, UT President Gregory Fenves said he is open to hearing ideas, but "the case has to be a strong one." Fenves: "There has to be a strong case from a competitive, business and quality perspective" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6/3). In Houston, Brian Smith writes under the header, "UT's Objection To Big 12 Expansion Is Significant Despite Silly Reasoning." Smith notes he has "never watched the Longhorn Network." Smith: "I have a pretty good feeling I will never watch your school's stupid TV station. And I honestly wouldn't even know what channel to find it on if I did want to see [former UT coach] Mack Brown interviewing a cow or the grainy rebroadcast of a football game from 1969." But as "watered down as the Big 12 has become, Texas and Oklahoma ... still carry the conference" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/3).
WHO'S COMING WITH ME? ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg reported the Big 12 has "received overtures from several prospective members from Group of 5 leagues." Boren: "I haven't gotten any mink coats or anything like that, but I've certainly gotten a lot of detailed data and other things, invitations to take visits" (ESPN.com, 6/2). In Houston, Matt Young notes former Vikings Owner Red McCombs, a big Texas booster, "always speaks his mind, and lately he's been using his voice to throw his support behind" Houston joining the Big 12. McCombs: "This is a huge opportunity for the Big 12. This shouldn't even be a question. ... The question should be how fast can we get them?" McCombs added, "I saw (Perrin's) comments in the media. I love him dearly. That doesn't mean he's always right. He's dead wrong on this. It's naive, at least, to say that we already have a big presence with the University of Texas in Houston. That doesn't mean that we couldn't have a bigger presence" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/3).
WHAT A MESS: In Orlando, Mike Bianchi writes it is "better for the Big 12 to expand now while the league is still dealing from a position of relative strength." When "you are the smallest, weakest and most vulnerable" of the Power Five conferences, it "would be foolhardy for the Big 12 to stand pat." Now is the time for conference members to "invest in the future, take in a school like UCF and the use the Big 12's power, prestige and payola to turn the Knights into the next Florida or Florida State." Bianchi: "There is no downside to immediate expansion, especially since it won't cost the Big 12 anything in TV money" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/3). In Hartford, Jeff Jacobs writes if UConn "didn't need the money so badly to continue to compete with the powers of major college athletics my advice would be to stay away from these madcap people" at the Big 12. Jacobs: "You always get the feeling the Big 12 of 10 members is one nasty argument away from Texas bolting for the Pac-12" and "two nasty arguments away from Oklahoma bolting for the SEC (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/3).
