Texas and OU ‘pulled a fast one on everybody’ in the Big 12. Who’s to blame?
The Big 12 is on the brink of collapse with flagships Texas and Oklahoma bolting to the SEC.
Who is to blame for this mess? Fair or not, plenty of fingers will be pointed toward Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby.
The Austin American-Statesman quoted what it described as a “high-ranking Big 12 official” that said: “They need to fire Bowlsby this week. They’re paying him $4 million, and he read it in the paper. He got caught flat-footed, and he needs to retire this week.”
Bowlsby did not respond late Tuesday night when asked for comment on the report through the league’s communications office. Since the Big 12’s media day earlier this month, Bowlsby has released only a couple statements since news of OU’s and UT’s departure became public.
But one source said there is no internal push from the remaining eight schools to get rid of Bowlsby. As the source put it, Texas and Oklahoma “pulled a fast one on everybody — including Bob.”
UT and OU have reportedly been working on this move behind the scenes for more than a year.
The departures are leaving the rest of the Big 12 schools in limbo and scrambling to potentially find new homes. Every school has likely had talks with every other Power Five conference by this point. There are talks between schools of aligning together to become more attractive entities, partnering with the Pac-12 and more.
But there remains a possibility of all eight staying together in a reformed and reshaped Big 12. As of now, that may be the best option for all involved.
Despite being hoodwinked by OU and UT, and possibly ESPN that is going all-in on the SEC in the near future, Bowlsby is a veteran college administrator with plenty of experience and credentials. The league needs someone with experience to navigate it through these trying times.
More than half of the remaining schools have athletic directors who have been in their respective positions for less than five years including Kansas’ Travis Goff (hired in April), Oklahoma State’s Chad Weiberg (hired in July), TCU’s Jeremiah Donati (hired Dec. 2017) and K-State’s Gene Taylor (hired April 2017). Baylor’s Mack Rhoades reached his five-year mark earlier this month and West Virginia’s Shane Lyons has been at his school since January 2015.
The veterans of the group are Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt (hired March 2011) and Iowa State’s Jamie Pollard (Sept. 2005).
Bowlsby has been in charge of the league since 2012, replacing Dan Beebe after the conference nearly fell apart under Beebe’s watch a decade ago.
Bowlsby’s legacy is now centered on whether the league dissolves or survives this latest shift. As one source said, “Everyone wants to point a finger.”
Bowlsby’s statements, though, at least come across as a commissioner confident in his league’s future.
As he wrote Tuesday after UT and OU formally asked for admittance into the SEC, “The events of recent days have verified that the two schools have been contemplating and planning for the transition for months and this formal application is the culmination of those processes. We are unwavering in the belief that the Big 12 provides an outstanding platform for its members’ athletic and academic success.
“We will face the challenges head-on, and we have confidence that the Big 12 will continue to be a vibrant and successful entity in the near term and into the foreseeable future.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
