Big 12 officials released a formal statement about today's conference calls. The most telling sentence:
Although league officials hope A&M remains in the 10-member conference, the Big 12 board of directors is prepared to "aggressively more forward to explore expansion opportunities." Sources indicate the leauge, if it expands, envisions adding only one more team.
A list of candidates, in the likely order of preference: BYU, Houston, Air Force, TCU.
Below is the full text of the Big 12's formal statement:
The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors conducted a teleconference meeting today to discuss the future of the Conference given recent developments regarding Texas A&M University. The Board strongly conveyed to Texas A&M its unanimous desire that it remain a Big 12 member, and acknowledged its value to the Conference. The Board noted that Texas A&M expressed concerns about institutional networks and that the athletics directors worked together and took actions, which the Board has approved, to adequately address those concerns. The other nine members reaffirmed their long term, unconditional and unequivocal commitments made to each other and the Conference last summer. Although the Board hopes Texas A&M remains in the Conference, the Board is prepared to aggressively move forward to explore expansion opportunities. In doing so, the Board recognizes the strength of the Big 12 Conference national brand and the opportunity to capitalize on it.
_ Jimmy Burch
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