This is just terrific. Via CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodds, the Big 12 paid for a study by Navigate Research that shows that the Big 12 has a 4 to 5 percent better chance of getting to the college football playoff by adding two teams and playing one less conference game and holding a conference championship game:
The new information will be formally presented to the entire league later this month. The Big 12 is in the process of deciding whether it will stay in its current figuration of 10 teams playing a round-robin nine-game conference schedule. A decision could be reached by the end of the summer.
“This will probably persuade some people one way or the other,” said Bowlsby, who is in town for Big 12 spring meetings at the annual Fiesta Summit.
The rest of the Big 12’s officials, including school presidents who will ultimately make the decision, will meet in Dallas from May 31 to June 3.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby also noted that by doing nothing, then they fall behind the SEC and the Big Ten, but if they add two teams then they potentially lose money:
“If we do nothing, we’ll fall behind the SEC and the Big Ten in terms of [revenue],” Bowlsby said. “We may be every bit as competitive as we are today, but we’ll fall behind financially.”
Bowlsby previously told CBS Sports that, if the league stands pat, it will be “$20 million [per school]” behind the SEC and Big Ten in 12 years.
Meanwhile, via the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati knows that they are getting close to a decision, as noted above, the decision to expand to 12 teams could come at the end of may when the presidents for the Big 12 meet:
Expansion is not imminent for the smallest of the five major football conferences. But Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told reporters Monday consultants’ preliminary data shows expanding to 12 schools and adding a championship game would improve the the conference’s chances of consistently making it to the lucrative College Football Playoff.
That could bode well for UC, because Big 12 officials have said the data will play a big part in driving the decision. The consultants’ final report is expected by the presidents’ meetings, the Dallas Morning News reported, but it’s possible a decision on expansion may not come until later this summer.
And the kicker . . . Texas Tech is apparently aligned with Texas:
Texas Tech has long fallen in line with Texas. Both are public universities that have been in the same league together since 1956, when they were in the Southwest Conference. Texas and Texas Tech were founding members of the Big 12 in 1996.