When it comes to the push for the Big 12 to expand, few have been as vocally in favor of such a move as Oklahoma president David Boren. It appears his biggest opponent may be his own university board of regents.
Oklahoma board of regents chairman Max Weitzenhoffer said in an interview with ESPN.com he opposes Boren’s expansion idea and instead favors a 10-member Big 12.
“I just don’t feel expansion is in the best interest of our football program,” Weitzenhoffer said. “Based on all the accomplishments we achieved last year both on the field and academically, I see no need to increase the size of our conference.”
The Big 12 presidents and chancellors will meet at the end of the month in Texas to discuss a number of topics, with conference expansion expected to be the big ticket item on the agenda. The Big 12 recently paid for an analytics firm to provide some information on the topic, which returned a suggestion the Big 12 would see a marginal odds-increase to make the College Football Playoff if it were to expand. Schools are lining up waiting for their invite to the Big 12 as well, including some of the usual suspects -- BYU, Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis, Houston, UCF.
Getting the Big 12 on the same page when it comes to expansion may not be easy. It seems just getting one school’s own leaders on the same ship may prove to be a difficult task as well.