In a press conference scheduled for 5:30 PM Central Time on Monday, the Big 12 Conference is expected to announce that it has decided against expansion from its current 10 universities at the present time.
In a decision made by the university presidents, the conference decided to end its three-month expansion exploration that revolved around 20 schools that applied to join the smallest of the NCAA’s “Power 5” conferences. Of the 20, 11 were interviewed.
While the conference will not completely close off expansion until a new deal is met with its television partners, their focus will be on getting more money from the existing deals.
The major sticking point of the deal involved a “pro rata” clause in the conference’s deals with ESPN and Fox. That clause would have allowed the conference to seek an extra $25 million per member institution (not just new members). Instead, the conference is expected to negotiate with those networks to increase revenue derived and eliminate the pro rata clause. That would give some certainty to the television networks, as it’s unlikely that any new members would be able to drive that level of new money for member institutions.
Among the programs that would’ve had the biggest impact in swimming would’ve been the BYU Cougars, who were widely considered a favorite to join the conference.
The BYU women, who have ranked in the top 10 this season, are tied for 16th in the latest AVCA polls, and have won 3 NCAA Championships (1999, 2001, and 2004) in their history.
The conference, which was once the dominant one in the sport thanks to the legendary program at Nebraska, is now a very top-heavy league, with Texas and Kansas carrying the torch for the conference.
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