A look back at the Big-12 expansion episode
AAC schools making the cut to the final eleven candidates were Houston, UCF, USF, Cincinnati, Tulane, SMU, and UConn. ECU, Memphis, and Temple were previously rejected.
Other schools making the cut were Rice, BYU, Colorado State, and AFA.
Without question, Houston was rejected not because the Cougars were not good enough; the problem was Houston was too good and correctly judged as a threat.
OU President David Boren, without consulting his Big-12 colleagues, went public that the Big-12 was psychologically challenged and needed to expand. It set off a public relations disaster and set in motion a fiasco that took on a life of its own that the Big-12 could not stop.
For those ten AAC schools hoping for a Big-12 invitation, I think the only way to attain P6 status is to continue to build the AAC conference, the reason I put this thread on the board. The fact that Boise State, SDSU, and Colorado State are willing to join AAC if invited tells me that they have no fear that the current AAC will lose any schools to a P5 conference via expansion.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN THE BIG 12 WAS GOING TO EXPAND? By Jeff Trotter, ESPN, June 28, 2017.
"During league meetings last June, the expansion push lost almost all momentum, especially after (OU President) Boren was informed that adding the likes of Houston or BYU or Cincinnati would not deliver the lucrative conference network for the Big 12 he so desired."
BIG 12 PASSES ON EXPANSION FOR NOW. HERE'S WHY, USA Today, By Richard Johnson, October 17, 2016.
"The Cougars looked like a slam dunk."
"But a lot of what makes them attractive also makes them dangerous."
"Former Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer said "Don't give them (Houston) creditability. I've always said if I could get the top 30 players that came out of Houston every year, I'd play for the national championship every year."
"Hell no," Switzer said when asked about the idea of empowering Houston."
"You can call it scared, you can call it pragmatic. But if Houston got into the Big 12, it'd further muddy the waters of a high-stakes recruiting area. Why should Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, or Baylor want to validate more competition in the state?"
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