It is all about money.
Bob Bowlsby is not quite certain what college football conferences will look like in 2025 but he does know one thing. The college football landscape will be different in 2025 which is just four years down the road. Bowlsby is the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference which was named the Big 12 Conference because it had 12 schools playing in one league. Bowlsby now has just eight after the defection of Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference and there is no guarantee he and the college presidents and chancellors can keep the eight schools together in a unit. The presidents and chancellors run the show, not the conference commissioner. Bowlsby did put out a statement when Texas and Oklahoma ankled out of the league on July 26th saying he was disappointed in what those schools’ poohbahs did and added something about staying together. “The Big 12 Conference will continue to support our member institutions’ efforts to graduate student-athletes and compete for Big 12 and NCAA championships. Like many others, we will use the next four years to fully assess what the landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond. The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically position the Big 12 Conference for continued success, both athletically and academically, long into the future.”
But Bowlsby may be whistling in the dark here. The American Athletic Conference could be looking to beef up its alignment and eight Big 12 schools might fit in nicely. The Pac 12 also might want some of the Big 12 schools. Then again, the Big 12 could look to go after schools to replace Texas and Oklahoma although no school that would jump to the Big 12 can equal either Oklahoma or Texas in brand recognition. It is all about business and money.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
