The Power 5 conference The Big 12 has built up an atmosphere of opportunity for a particular group of up-and-coming football programs across the country.
Monday, October 17, 2016, a unanimous decision took place to keep the Big 12’s current number at ten after five hours of deliberation.
“We decided after very thorough discussion that we would remain at 10 members,” said Oklahoma president David Boren, who is the chair of the league’s board of directors. “We committed ourselves to that proposition and to each other.”
“I would describe it as very thoughtful and candid meeting and showed a great deal of unity and strength in the conference.”
Several of these candidates, both serious and extended, come from the American Athletic Conference – for example, the University of Houston, the University of South Florida, and most notably, the University of Central Florida.
The cash cow of revenue from the Power 5 conferences became one of the primary driving points in the fight to be included in the expansion. UCF pitched the university could increase the seating capacity of Bright House Networks Stadium to 70,000, in addition to other amenities and promises offered in favor of joining the conference.
Boren disclosed that the meeting did not include discussions on specific candidates nor was voting involving each school cast in the deliberation.
A push for praise in the expansion veto includes the strengthening of The American. UCF football head coach Scott Frost himself noted the strength of the conference.
AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco’s greatest worries that have taken place over the past two years may have dissipated in large part.
Aresco’s current plan is to move the AAC out of the culturally derogative ‘group of five,’ in reference to the lower-strength conferences in NCAA football. The commissioner, instead, plans to move The American in with the Power 5 to become the ‘Power 6,’ with the inclusion of his conference.
Photo credit: Aileen Perilla
