Why This Week Looms Large for the Big 12

IRVING, TX — When Big 12 Conference administrators meet this week at the Four Seasons Resort, it won’t necessarily dictate the immediate future of the often embattled league.

But this year's annual Big 12 spring business meetings could certainly point the conference in its next direction.

Big 12 athletic directors gather today and Thursday, and league presidents convene Thursday and Friday.

Suffice it to say there’s a lot on the agenda.

New commissioner

At the forefront is new leadership at the top of the Big 12.

Commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced earlier this spring that, in a mutual agreement with the league’s board of directors, he will resign and transition out of the office over the coming months.

Running point since 2012 for a league that has fought seismic discontent — to the point where membership has undergone sweeping changes three times since its inception in 1996 — has taken a toll on the 70-year-old Bowlsby.

The search for the next commissioner is underway but isn’t expected to be finished any time soon.

NIL, Portal talks

Decisions on NIL and the transfer portal will be made at the NCAA level, but coaches have voiced their opinions as well as some solutions. To that end, Big 12 ADs and Senior Women’s Administrators meet Wednesday morning to discuss the most explosive changes in college athletics in decades — but nothing concrete will be decided this week.

Membership

The seating arrangements will look significantly different this year, and then may look different next year, and the year after. Representatives from the league’s newest members — BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston — are in attendance, although they won’t formally join the Big 12 until 2023 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Texas are transitioning out. Do the Sooners and Longhorns still have a voice in the boardroom? Or are they just short-timers, biding their time until they head off to the SEC — in 2023, 2024, or 2025?

The Big 12’s Transformation Committee meets Thursday after lunch to discuss membership — and, presumably, scheduling options. The Big 12 will have 10 members in 2022, 12 to 14 in 2023, 12 to 14 in 2024, and 12 in 2025 — although all of that is subject to change.

UCF, Cincinnati and Houston have reportedly begun negotiating their exit from the American Athletic Conference, which would allow them to join in 2023.

Broadcasts, branding

The Big 12’s television contracts run through 2025. Does the conference’s leadership have the foresight to position itself on the vanguard of sports television and digital streaming technologies? Or, with membership in limbo, will the Big 12 play the waiting game? The bidding process could be competitive, but will it be lucrative?

The presidents and ADs meet Thursday morning to discuss the league’s branding possibilities.

Money talks

On Friday, Bowlsby will likely present the Big 12’s financials from fiscal year 2021-22, which have been projected at around $40 million per school. Bowlsby last year estimated OU and Texas account for half of the conference’s television revenue, although that estimate has been adjusted down from $14 million to about $5 million.

Bowlsby might be able to offer additional clarity at the end of what figures to be a monumental week for the Big 12.

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