One New York Post article this morning dropped a major bomb on most college football fans with the notice that West Virginia was reportedly leaving to join the Big 12 to replace Missouri as it likely heads to the SEC. But within that article was another statement from a source saying that the Big 12 has bigger plans than anyone might have realized.
The Post’s Lenn Robbins writes, “A source said the Big 12, by holding Missouri, might hold at 10 teams for next season and then consider a jump to 16 teams. Louisville and Cincinnati are under consideration as well as Boise State and BYU.”
Brigham Young has been a hot name back and forth for Big 12 conference consideration and Louisville has often been a part of that equation as well. This is, however, the first real link for Cincinnati and Boise State both for the conference. Moving to a 16 team division makes sense, only because the Big 12 has been seen as a weaker force subject to the whims of other conferences. Such a power move would place them alongside other national heavyweights for the BCS title.
The move to all schools would also give the conference a national brand. From Boise State to West Virginia, the conference would feature powerful schools in every single time zone. The ability to maintain that hold, however, would be difficult given that it might just water down the rivalries and prove too much for travel.
Rumors like this have been swirling all along so it’s hard to pay much attention to them at this point. Just know that a few new schools are now on the list and some of them might shake out into the reality of the Big 12 soon enough.