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The athletic department at BYU is not wasting any time expressing its interest in the Big 12. Tom Holmoe released a statement within hours of the Big 12 board meeting Tuesday.
As you probably already know, the Big 12 board has unanimously decided to pursue the interests of potential candidates in regards to expansion.
Well, through Twitter, BYU made it official they want in:
“We are obviously excited the leadership of the Big 12 has advised commissioner Bob Bowlsby to review potential expansion candidates. BYU is known for its academic excellence and I believe we have an exceptional athletic program. As I’ve stated before, I would like to see our student-athletes compete at the highest level.”
This is a rather simple statement, but it seems obvious this is in direct response to the criteria cited by the Big 12 board for who they want as additional candidates:
Big12: 6 factors cited for Big 12 expansion: Strength of athletic dept, fan base size, media market, school's reputation, academic strength.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 19, 2016
If you are thinking to yourself that this is unique for BYU, you are not alone. BYU almost never releases statements like this. What that means is up for speculation.
Nevertheless, it is nice to see Tom and BYU be proactive in regards to the Big 12 and make it official that they are indeed ready to make their pitch for addition.