DALLAS — The first question for Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was not about OU President David Boren’s comment calling the conference ‘psychologically disadvantaged’ and consequentially, Bowlsby lost a bet.
“I lost the pool, by the way,” he chuckled. “I thought that would be the first question.”
Despite Boren’s comment, Bowlsby said he believes the majority of Big 12 presidents want to remain at 10 members, although there are “four or five” who could be persuaded either way.
“At the present time, I don't think there's critical mass for expansion,” Bowlsby said. “It will continue to be a topic about which we spend at least a little time at every meeting talking about it. But until that majority shifts, it's a purely academic conversation.”
Conference elects to manage field- and court-storming
Bowlsby announced the Big 12 has undertaken a sportsmanship initiative led by Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw to address concerns of inappropriate chants as well as field- and court-storming.
While conferences such as the SEC have elected to fine schools whose fans storm the field, Bowlsby said the Big 12 is taking a different approach to the issue — manage it rather than prohibit it.
“We think that, properly managed, those kinds of celebrations can be a lot of fun,” he said. “If you've got a football stadium that's got an eight‑foot wall around it, you're going to have to take some special precautions to make sure people aren't jumping off of it and hurting themselves.”
While Bowlsby acknowledged it would be a daunting undertaking, he said the conference is taking more of a wait-and-see approach.
“I do have broad prerogative in terms of reprimands and fines and a full array of considerations that will allow us to manage it if we disagree that it hadn't been managed properly on campus,” he said.
Schools only allowed to go full-contact twice per week
The Big 12 will limit its member schools to two days of full-contact per week in 2015, Bowlsby announced Monday.
According to national rules, teams are allowed three days of full-contact per week, including the game. The Big 12’s new regulation includes gameday, as well. Bowlsby said he hopes the new rule is eventually adopted nationally.
“Well, what we determined was our guys weren't using them anyway,” he said.
The coaches agreed with the commissioner. TCU coach Gary Patterson said he has been only using two days of full-contact, including gameday, for four years now.
Furthermore, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder never said exactly how many days of full contact he uses but did conclude it would not affect the way he runs his program.
“We don't have to make any changes in that respect,” Snyder said. “I like the way we do our practices. We've been doing them the same way for a long time. So it plays out to favor what we do, I think.”
Snyder holds nothing back at Big 12 Media Days
Much like Boren, Snyder was not shy about what he would like to see out of the conference when and if it decides to expand.
“I have always favored the way it was at one time,” he said. “I favor a 12‑team conference, I favor two divisions and I favor a championship game.”
Snyder pointed out when the Big 12 first played a championship game, it was one of just two conferences to do so — the other being the SEC.
Now, not only is the Big 12 the only Power Five conference without one, it’s the smallest, as well.
“I hear the schools that are mentioned from time to time and I think all of them are mentioned for a reason,” Snyder said about potential expansion candidates. “I would say this. I think there is probably some universities out there that haven't necessarily been mentioned for maybe some obvious reasons that might have an interest in being a part of our conference. But I don't know that for a fact.”
Bowlsby announced Monday he expects the NCAA will remove the 12-team minimum regulation preventing the Big 12 from playing a conference championship game. However, has he has reiterated many times before, Bowlsby still believes a round-robin format is the best way to go.
“The last four years, the last day of the season, our champion was decided,” he said. “In fact, just as a reminder, the two highest ranked teams that met on Championship Saturday last year were No. 5 Baylor and No. 9 Kansas State. In terms of rankings, it was the best matchup on the board.”
Big 12 will not regulate non-conference schedules for the time being
Bowlsby failed to take a solid stance on regulating member schools’ non-conference schedules Monday, even going to far as to say he could “capably argue either side of it.”
The commissioner said several athletic directors and coaches within the conference have discussed the idea. However, the Big 12 will not regulate out-of-conference slates, at least for now.
“Some coaches believe a tough preseason does that best,” Bowlsby said. “Others believe a lighter preseason does that best. And I think we have to respect those experiences and respect the prerogatives of individual coaches.”
As schools like Baylor have been widely criticized for soft non-conference schedules over the last few seasons, Bowlsby acknowledged that strength of schedule reflects on every member of the conference.
“So I don't think it means that everybody has to play three top 20 teams in their preseason,” he said. “I also think it doesn't mean that everybody has to play three that are FCS or in the bottom of FBS. So I think there's a happy medium there.”
Kingsbury speaks on OU’s Mayfield, Riley
After quarterback Baker Mayfield announced he would transfer to Oklahoma in January 2014, he said one of the reasons he elected to leave Texas Tech was the lack of communication with his former coach Kliff Kingsbury, among a variety of factors.
However, Kingsbury, who lost the 2013 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, said he really has not given the situation a second thought.
“I wish him the best of luck,” Kingsbury said. “It sounds like he's doing a great job there, which I knew he would. Hopefully, he plays really good in every game except one.”
Despite missing four games with injury, Mayfield completed just over 64 percent of his passes for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns in his only season with the Red Raiders.
Since he has been in Norman, Mayfield has been featured in no less than four videos showing him hitting ‘the whip’ and has been spoken of highly by Oklahoma teammates and coaches alike.
“The players like him,” Kingsbury said. “That’s what kind of jumped out to us when he got on campus early. The players really gravitated towards him.”
Kingsbury has another tie to Oklahoma — new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley.
Riley’s first year as a student at Texas Tech was Kingsbury’s last as the Red Raiders’ starting quarterback. Kingsbury said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops picked up one of the great offensive minds in college football.
“I've known Lincoln for a long time and he has worked very hard to get to where he's at,” Kingsbury said. “[He] did a tremendous job at East Carolina building that offense and that program with Coach McNeill.”
