This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Although no decisions regarding expansion are expected to be made when the 10 presidents and chancellors of Big 12 Conference schools meet next week in Irving, Texas, officials at more than a dozen hopeful expansion candidates from around the country will be watching the proceedings closely.
That includes officials at BYU.
Of all the schools that are possibly being considered if the Big 12 chooses to add more members — and that is far from likely, at the present time — BYU has arguably maintained the lowest profile.
And that's by design.
The private school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been purposefully trying to fly under the radar in an attempt to not come across as being desperate or difficult.
BYU president Kevin Worthen and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe both declined to be interviewed for this report through their emissaries to the media. Duff Tittle, BYU's associate athletic director for communications, referred inquiries to statements Holmoe made in January.
However, in a banquet on Tuesday recognizing donors to the "Coaches Circle" program that raises funds to ensure BYU's most high-profile coaches are paid market value, Holmoe assured boosters that BYU is "deeply involved" in getting its message to Big 12 schools behind the scenes, according to several people who were there.
Holmoe's comments came in a question-and-answer session after new head football coach Kalani Sitake and 11-year basketball coach Dave Rose served as keynote speakers at the gathering.
Schools such as Cincinnati, UConn, Colorado State, Memphis and Houston have been far more public in expressing their desires to be invited to join the Big 12, with the latter two especially promising corporate backing and hundreds of millions of dollars in facility upgrades if selected.
BYU officials have promised nothing of the sort — the school's football stadium (LaVell Edwards Stadium) and basketball arena (Marriott Center) are already Power-5 caliber, they believe — but the "tone" at the meeting, according to aforementioned sources, was that many longtime BYU benefactors would be willing to "step up to the plate" to the Big 12's liking, if necessary.
Not clear is how heavily BYU has lobbied the Big 12 and through what channels, be they power-point presentations, brochures, public relations firms or the like.
The meetings at the Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas begin on Tuesday and run through Friday. If any expansion news comes out of the meetings, it will likely come on Thursday when there are joint meetings scheduled between athletic directors and the Board of Directors (presidents and chancellors), or Friday when they convene privately and hear major presentations from firms hired to produce substantial data on expansion.
Holmoe last spoke publicly to reporters about BYU and the Big 12 on Jan. 29, when the former California football coach and professional defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers said he is "up to my eyeballs" in monitoring Big 12 discussions and interest.
"I know [expansion] is a big part of [fans'] concern, so I don't want to put it aside," Holmoe said. "We think about it a lot. But we don't really control that. So we have to focus on what we can. Time is going to tell. This is something that I've had to be patient with. I think sometimes people think that I am not really involved in this. I am."
Those questions came just days after Oklahoma president David L. Boren said the Big 12 needed to expand to keep up with the other four Power 5 conferences. Boren has backtracked a bit from those comments, but is still seen as perhaps the biggest proponent of Big 12 expansion.
And at some Big 12 meetings earlier this month, commissioner Bob Bowlsby said if the conference does nothing, "We will be substantially behind a decade from now."
Asked back then if BYU was keeping up with the Joneses in regards to expressing an interest in the Big 12, Holmoe alluded to the school's tactic of playing it cool.
"Like I said, we just don't feel that it is in our best interest, or the Big 12's, to have discussions where, [when] every time I say something, they will have to respond," Holmoe said. "So, I don't say anything."
Not publicly, anyway.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU baseball ousted from WCC tourney
The BYU baseball team was eliminated from the West Coast Conference tournament Friday, falling to Pepperdine 7-2 for its second defeat in two games.
Cougars starter Keaton Cenatiempo (3-2) lasted one inning, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk while striking out one.
Tanner Chauncey had three of BYU's eight hits, including a double, and scored a run.
Waves starter Ryan Wilson pitched a complete game, allowing one earned run on eight hits. He struck out 11 batters walked none.
In Thursday night's late opener, BYU hitters struck out 17 times and walked once in a 5-3 loss to Gonzaga.