Friday it was reported that Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby will be conducting videoconferences with the 17 schools that have contacted the conference expressing interest in becoming a member of the league. Of those 17, 14 schools were known.
Now we know the other three schools, as well as an 18th interested in membership.
As we had previously noted, San Diego State was believed to be one of the original 17 mentioned by ESPN.com‘s Brett McMurphy. McMurphy confirmed SDSU is one of the now-18 that’ll state their case to the league, while also noting that the Sun Belt’s Arkansas State, Mountain West’s Air Force and MAC’s Northern Illinois will do so as well.
So, for those keeping score at home, below is a conference-by-conference breakdown of potential additions to the Big 12.
AMERICAN
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Houston
Memphis
SMU
Temple
Tulane
UCF
UConn
USF
INDEPENDENT
BYU
MAC
Northern Illinois
MOUNTAIN WEST
Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
San Diego State
SUN BELT
Arkansas State
While 18 schools will be afforded the opportunity to stump for their inclusion, it’s believed that some combination of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, UCF and UConn will ultimately be part of any expansion. While it remains to be seen whether the Big 12 expands by two or four, McMurphy also reported that it’s “less and less likely” that current 10-team conference will expand by four.
It has previously been reported that the Big 12 would like to settle the expansion issue before the start of the upcoming season, although that appears, like adding four schools, less and less likely. Instead, a decision might not be made until a board of directors meeting scheduled for October.