Exploring the idea of Big 12 expansion

By Matt Tait     Mar 2, 2016

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, left, and Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger laugh while taking reporter's questions after the first day of the conference's meeting Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

It’s not that it ever really goes away, but the topic of Big 12 expansion certainly has had its ebbs and flows over the past couple of years and that figures to continue well into the future.

A couple of recent articles by national and regional writers looked at (a) the most likely candidates to join the conference if the Big 12 were to expand and (b) what it would take to pique the interest of the conference’s powers that be enough to take the leap.

It’s a fascinating study to explore the ins and outs of possible expansion and, if you’re anything like me, you definitely have your own take on which two schools would be the best pick-ups for the Big 12.

As unsexy as it might be, I’ve gotten on board with the idea of adding Cincinnati and there’s just something I can’t shake about Houston that makes me think the Cougars, long term, would be a solid addition, as well.

But enough about what I think. The entire idea behind the creation of this blog was because we care what you guys think. So, with the help of Google surveys (we know you’re all familiar with those), we put together a few questions about Big 12 expansion and asked you to answer them.

Overall results from Question No. 1.

We’ll do something similar every week so that at least some of the survey questions you answer before reading our content has something to do with KU that might interest you. So keep an eye out for those surveys specific to KU sports and, if you’re over surveys altogether, don’t forget that you can now download our new and improved KUsports.com app in the app store. For just $3.99 a month, you’ll get all of the content you see on the desktop site without having to deal with any ads or surveys.

Anyway, enough about that. Here’s a quick look at some of the data we gathered from your answers to three questions pertaining to possible Big 12 expansion. We left the survey open until we received 1,000 answers to each question.

The questions were:

1. Talk of Big 12 expansion has heated up again. Do you think the conference should add new members?
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2. If the Big 12 were to expand, which two schools would you like to see added?
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Answers from men only on question No. 1.

*It’s worth noting here that 33 people elected to write in under the “Other” category and the schools that were mentioned as write-ins included: Air Force, Arkansas, Colorado, Colorado State, Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Arizona State, Louisville, Missouri, Wichita State, Illinois, Oregon, Notre Dame, San Diego State and Temple.*

*As you know, some of those are attainable and others are complete pipe dreams but still interesting, nonetheless.*

3. Which former Big 12 member that left would you most like to see return to the Big 12?
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Answers from women only on question No. 1.

Overall answers to question No. 2.

Overall answers to question No. 3.

Answers from men only to question No. 3.

Answers from women only to question No. 3.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.