DALLAS - The transcribers were certainly busy for the two-day Big 12 Conference football media day extravaganza that took place at the Omni Dallas hotel in downtown Dallas on Monday and Tuesday.

 

Monday was consumed by news regarding the happenings that have taken place out at Baylor and the school’s response to the issues it has had with the Bear football program.

 

There was also some news about the Big 12’s decision to hold a football championship game once again in 2017, most likely taking place at the highest-bidding neutral site.

 

And then yesterday, following day two of more football business, the Big 12 Board of Directors met, listened to a presentation made by Baylor outlining details from the Pepper Hamilton Report and then announced during a media teleconference that the league might consider adding two, or, perhaps even four new members.

 

This came about after a television presentation made by Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures and Navigate Research and Monday’s announcement that the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have agreed to 20-year extension to its deal that now runs through the 2035-36 academic year and includes the launch of an ACC Network by August, 2019.

 

“We have reports from our two groups of consultants that have been working with us in terms of evaluating the interest of other schools and also those that have been giving us advice to our media relationships and the media contracts going forward,” David Boren, Oklahoma president and Big 12 Board of Directors chair, said. “Obviously the announcement that something has been agreed to with the ACC - we don’t know the details at this point - but it indicates we live in a very fast-changing world and the situation is changing quickly.”

 

And that means the Big 12 must once again take a hard look at the value of establishing a TV network and adding additional members.

 

“We’re evaluating what expansion of the league might also contribute to that process as well as what it might contribute to the financial stability and general stability of the conference,” Boren said.

 

Boren later expanded on the possibility of the conference getting bigger in the not-too-distant future.

 

“If we are to expand, we want to find the strongest possible partners for expansion,” he said. “We’re not just talking about athletic partners, which of course that’s very important; what is the fan base? What is the TV following? (What is) the broadcast following of these teams? But also, what are the academic standards of these schools, what reputations do these schools have as institutions of integrity and shared values with us?”

 

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he was unwilling to put a timeframe on the process of conference expansion.

 

“We just finished the meeting (Tuesday afternoon) but we intend to be active very soon,” Bowlsby said. “We have been contacted by a number of institutions, and my guess is that after this news breaks we’ll be contacted by them again.”

 

Bowlsby indicated the process will likely involve two stages - preliminary work and then getting into a fact-finding and negotiation stage if the conference does choose to continue down that path.

 

“Like the championship game, our board evaluated the data, listened to our consultants, had a good, frank, forthright conversation among themselves and saw the path forward clearly and have taken steps,” Bowlsby said. “And so now we need to go away from this meeting and think about it from a logistical standpoint and put a plan together.”

 

Which could mean the league transcribers could be very busy once again, perhaps sooner rather than later.

 

More Tuesday Big 12 Media Day Notes …

 

* Bowlsby indicated there are stipulations in the Big 12’s existing contracts with its television partners to anticipate possible fluctuations in conference membership.

 

“Not only do they address very specifically the additions of institutions, but they also address the deletions of institutions,” he said. “The contract was anticipatory of the change that is present in college athletics, and I have to give a lot of credit to Kevin Sweeney, our counsel, for having the foresight to negotiate these things and have them in their contracts.

 

“So we expect to exercise the full prerogatives of what we negotiated,” noted Bowlsby if that should happen.

 

“The provisions do protect us so that current member shares will not be diluted if we were to add two or four teams,” Boren added. “There is a contractual obligation to pay that additional amount pro rate that we’re already receiving if there is an expansion - a hypothetical expansion of the conference. It’s already in our contracts and does not require additional negotiation of the contracts.”

 

Boren mentioned that the board had a unanimous vote recommending the commissioner follow up with the schools that have indicated an interest in potentially joining the Big 12 at some point down the line.

 

“It was a motion and it was approved unanimously without dissent,” he said. “So it does move the process forward.”

 

* Of the coaches present in Dallas on Tuesday, West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen was the only one who was asked a question about the possibility of the league expanding during the formal news conference portion of media day that took place in the hotel’s grand ballroom.

 

Of course, this occurred before the Big 12 Board of Director’s meeting and subsequent teleconference on Tuesday afternoon.

 

“I’m in favor of expansion,” Holgorsen said. “I’m on the side of my boss, President (Gordon) Gee, who is in favor of expansion as well. Who? That’s not fair for me to say. There’s a lot of things that go into it that I don’t have knowledge to be able to discuss.

 

“I would like to see two teams added - a good, round number of 12,” Holgorsen continued. “I was in the Big 12 for a long time and we had 12. It makes those divisional breakups easier and it makes trying to get a championship game together a little easier as well.”

 

* Speaking of a championship game, Holgorsen said he is in favor of it simply because he’s not in favor of having another week of regular-season games during the first week of December.

 

“I think that hurts the teams that are playing from a recruiting perspective and it helps the teams that are playing if it’s a situation where you’re being considered for a College Football Playoff, or a top-tier bowl game,” he said. “I think you need to find the best two teams (to play in the championship game) and I have all the confidence in the world with the Big 12 administration and commissioner Bowlsby to figure that out. But I don’t have an answer, and it really doesn’t matter what I think anyway.”

 

* On the field, Holgorsen said there are a few priority items his coaching staff must address when the team begins training camp in August.

 

“(Offensive) tackle is something that we’re trying to develop. We got two good, young tackles in Yodny (Cajuste) and (Colton) McKivitz,” Holgorsen said. “Timing within the passing game is important - we’ve got a lot of good, young receivers and that’s going to be exciting to see which one of these guys breaks out and separates themselves much like Kevin White did two years ago.

 

“Defensively, without a doubt it’s corner,” Holgorsen said. “We got a lot of options at corner and we got a lot of older guys, two junior college guys, a fifth-year transfer, another fifth-year transfer from Miami, another junior college kid that’s been on campus for two years and then four freshmen as well. We’ve got a lot of bodies there, but that’s going to be Coach (Blue) Adams’ main priority and (defensive coordinator Tony) Gibson’s priority to get those guys to be able to rely on those guys to be able to do what we want to do defensively.”

 

Holgorsen is in Bristol, Connecticut, today taking part in the Big 12 football coaches “Car Wash” at the ESPN complex.