The athletic directors of the Big 12 have expressed little interest in expansion past the 10 teams they already have, but the talk of expansion came up at the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
ESPN caught up with both Kansas State's John Currie and West Virginia's Oliver Luck to speak about expansion and they echoed close to the same stance.
"Expansion is one thing we're not talking about," Luck said.
"We see how strong and productive our league is with 10 members. The camaraderie is really good.” said Currie.
The Big 12 was once on the brink of extinction and many members of the once-proud conference jumped ship to greener pastures. The conference survived the first wave of decline, but if the group hopes to survive who could they convince to join?
Houston: This might be the most likely addition to the Big 12 if the conference chooses to expand as Houston has had immense success in a state that is dominated by all the other Texas schools. Houston makes sense for all sports considering they hold their own in most major sports. If the Big 12 is looking for numbers that make sense, Houston should be their first call.
BYU: The Cougars have shown immense interest in joining the Big 12, but the conference isn't thinking expansion. This doesn't make much sense to me considering BYU was the last mid-major to win a national championship. The Cougars bring a great legacy of football and tradition that the Big 12 should covet and appreciate, but for some reason they don't want the school as bad as the school wants them. If the conference looks to add two teams at a time, BYU will be the first team to call the Big 12.
Cincinnati: The Bearcats could serve as a solid addition in both basketball and football while achieving a true rival for West Virginia. Cincinnati has been very consistent in all sports and could be due for an upgrade in competition with the Big 12. The Big 12 could be in the business of expanding in both school numbers and on the map if they branch out to the state of Ohio. The Big 12 needs to keep up with other power conferences and, short of bringing in Notre Dame, schools like Cincinnati would be a major draw.
[ESPN]
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