Big 12 Media Day: Bob Bowlsby

By Sean Frye

Bob Bowlsby, the new commissioner of the Big 12 addressed the media Monday morning. He spoke on a variety of topics, including possible expansion, the Penn State scandal and the sanctions that were announced and the recently announced Champions Bowl that will pit the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference champions against one another in a bowl game starting in 2014.

This year, the Big 12 will debut two new teams in TCU and West Virginia, but it also loses Texas A&M and Missouri. The issue of realignment nearly broke apart the Big 12 last year, so the issue was again brought up at Monday’s media days.

Bowlsby noted that possible expansion was not likely, and that if a vote were to be taken amongst the ten members schools, there probably would not be two votes in favor of adding schools to the Big 12.

“We are headed for a period of stability,” Bowlsby said. “I don’t know if we would get two votes in favor of expansion. If the Big 12 had to vote on it today, we wouldn’t vote to take any new members in.”

Monday also marked the sanctioning of the Penn State football team following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. A vacating of wins dating back to 1998, a 4-year bowl ban, and a loss of scholarships were among the sanctions that the NCAA announced.

What surprised Bowlsby though was the $60 million fine.

“The one piece that I’m surprised as was the magnitude of the fine,” Bowlsby said. “I’d like to hear a little more on how that number was derived. I don’t know that it is absolutely clear on what basis this becomes an NCAA issue.”

Starting in 2014, the Big 12 and SEC will face off in a bowl game on New Year’s Day. This is in preparation for the four-team playoff that the BCS announced in June. Bowlsby says that the implementation of a four-team playoff is partially a result of hearing input from the fans, players and coaches.

“We’ve gotten to a four team playoff because we were listening to the fans,” Bowlsby said.