Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby Comments on Potential Conference Expansion

One day after the Big 12 presidents unanimously approved exploring expansion, conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby talked about the process of bringing in new programs.   

Per Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News, Bowlsby noted Wednesday that it's "a sellers' market—and we’re the sellers, and there are a lot of eager buyers."

While the conference has made no formal announcement about potential additions to the Big 12, Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel noted there is a hierarchy among the candidates:

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The leaders in the clubhouse for Big 12 expansion remain BYU, Cincinnati and Connecticut. The next tier includes South Florida, Central Florida, Memphis, Colorado State, Houston, Boise State and Tulane. If the league does add four schools, there’s really no standout candidate for that fourth slot. ... Schools like Temple, San Diego State and Northern Illinois don’t really have a chance, but will give it a shot anyway.

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It seems the expansion talk got a lot of ears burning, per Carlton, with Bowlsby saying that he's "been downright popular" based on the response from possible expansion candidates. 

However, per Carlton, Bowlsby did make sure to note that the conference will not be distributing finances evenly for the new programs immediately: "There isn’t any question there will be a phase-in from a revenue distribution standpoint."

Also per Carlton, Bowlsby said that adding a football-only program "wouldn't [be] our first choice."

As things stand, the Big 12 has 10 teams after it added TCU and West Virginia in 2012. The conference has fallen behind the other Power Five conferences (SEC, ACC, Pac-12, Big Ten), which all have their own television networks after ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported the ACC will be launching its own in 2019. 

The Big 12 does have major programs such as Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, but the other Power Five conferences have a combination of top-tier programs and depth that the Big 12 desperately needs to build for the future.