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BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 19, 2016

Dallas, Texas

THE MODERATOR: I'm joined by the University of Oklahoma president and Big 12 Board of Directors chairman, David Boren, and Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. Bob.
BOB BOWLSBY: Good afternoon, all, appreciate you stepping away from media day and calling in. Those of you that are at remote locations, thank you for your interest and thanks for calling in.
We have had a very productive day today. We began the day with a presentation by the interim president of Baylor University and two board members, including the chair, and we spent almost the rest of the day discussing composition components and having a good discussion on the future of the Big 12 Conference.
I thought it was an exceedingly productive day. We had all but one president and chancellor present, and that institution was represented by another senior staff member.
We had a great day, finished up about 20 minutes ago. And now I'd like to turn it over to President Boren for his comments on our discussions with Baylor University.
DAVID BOREN: Thank you very much, Commissioner. I certainly want to associate myself with your remarks about this being a very productive meeting.
And I would say extremely valuable information was received and we've had an opportunity to have very candid conversation about the future of the Big 12, ways in which we can strengthen the Big 12.
So it's been a very productive day. The board authorized me to release the following statement, which I will read to you about our meeting with officials from Baylor University this morning and for over two hours today.
In response to the board's request for information, the Big 12 Board of Directors today was given an update by Baylor representatives on the university's investigation of sexual assaults on its campus.
Baylor interim president David Garland, regent's chairman Ronald Murff and regent David Harper, academic and student affairs committee chairman of the board of regents, met with the Big 12 board for over two hours.
The details provided today are a necessary step in helping the entire membership to gain a better understanding of the past actions and how the university plans to deal with the issues identified in the Pepper Hamilton findings.
We were assured of the university's commitment to keep the conference apprised of what was going on as we move forward. My board colleagues and I sincerely appreciate the leadership of interim President Garland during this very difficult period of time.
And we support his efforts for absolute compliance with appropriate rules of all kind. We are pleased also by the commitment made to the regent's chairman, Mr.Murff, to our board today to support appropriate institutional control going forward and to assure full Title IX compliance.
As all of you know, our board and our membership take very seriously and have been deeply concerned by what has taken place and it was very important for us to hear of the commitment of the university, not only the university administration, but also the board of regents, to actions that would be taken in the future.
Questions and answers were received, and I would say we were very pleased, not only by the commitment of President Garland but also by the assurance that he has the support of the board represented today by one its chairman of the committee and as well as the chairman of the board.
So that's the statement about our meeting with Baylor University today, which was quite candid and something that was very necessary from our point of view so that we could meet our responsibility to make sure that we maintain appropriate standards and appropriate safety of students and their welfare in the Big 12 Conference.
In addition, as Commissioner Bowlsby has already said, we also had a discussion of the future makeup of the conference going forward‑‑ the entire structural issues for the conference, how to make the conference stronger. And a number of universities, as you well know, have contacted the Big 12 to express interest in our conference.
And the board today directed the commissioner to actively evaluate their interests and to report back those evaluations which he will make back to the board at a future board meeting.
So there was continued interest expressed and expansion and the direction to the commissioner, I think, reflects that and we will look forward to receiving back from him the information that he gathers as he evaluates the interests of all of those who have contacted us, the other universities.
So I think that pretty well summarizes, commissioner, the two major subjects that we dealt with, and I suppose at this point we'll open it for questions. Any other comment you'd like to make, commissioner?
BOB BOWLSBY: No, I appreciate very much your leadership today and throughout the summer as we've built up to this meeting. And both of us are available to answer questions as you have them.

Q. I guess for President Boren, was the interest expressed in expansion impacted by the ACC announcing or ACC news that they would be going to a conference network in 2019, and the news about the ACC network?
DAVID BOREN: Well, I would say, of course, and we have reports from our two groups of consultants that have been working with us in terms of evaluating the interest of other schools and also those that have been giving us advice as to our media relationships and the media contracts going forward.
Obviously the announcement that something has been agreed to with the ACC, we don't know all the details at this point. But it indicates that we live in a very fast‑changing world, situation is changing quickly. New technologies are being adapted and the reports on the ACC indicate some exploration of new platforms as well.
We simply don't know enough at this point in time to evaluate what the financial terms may be and whether or not a network, a linear network, what the shape of it will be or what the financial terms will be going forward.
But it does indicate to us that we are continuing to operate in an environment that is filled with change, even over the period of a few days a matter can change. And we felt the need to receive an update from our consultants, including their best advice on what the impact of any ACC agreement with media partners might have on our conference.
So after we've had a full round of those discussions, and they took quite a long period of time. They were very thorough. There was candid discussion among members of the board. And again, obviously, as we took the action last time to establish a championship game, we want to do everything possible to put this conference in a position to play for championships, for national championships. We want to do everything to add a data point, as we mentioned last time, adding the 13th data point, certainly was a benefit to us in terms of providing access for our conference's teams and the championship competition.
We're evaluating what expansion of the league might also contribute to that process as well as what it might contribute to the financial stability and general stability of the conference.
So at the end of all of that discussion, the direction from the Board was to the commissioner to contact those schools, recontact those schools who have expressed interest to us, who have come to us, and to find out exactly the nature of the interest, evaluate what proposals they might make in accordance with their interests, and then he'll be reporting back to us.
But, yes, that's a long answer to a short question. But, yes, of course, we try to keep an eye on the changing environment at all times, and we did want to be brought up to date in terms of potential impact that the ACC matter could have.

Q. David, you told us about a month ago that your broadcast partners weren't interested in a conference network, that that was sort of a gone concept. Did the ACC news of yesterday rekindle that interest? In your mind is this going to be a different‑looking thing? Or how do you see a Big 12 network now as opposed to a month ago?
DAVID BOREN: I'm not sure that it has radically changed the picture in terms of what the interest might be in terms of the linear network from the media.
It could. We have to wait and see what happens. None of us know any of the details yet of what those agreements were with the ACC. In fact, in terms of the agreement we're hearing that putting together some of those final details may take not only weeks, months, but maybe even a few years before they had a target date go into that.
So I'm not sure that the basic picture has changed. But we have focused more directly this time, not on the question of what the potential for a network might be. Although it could resurrect itself again.
But we have focused on what expansion of the conference might mean in the near term to increasing and improving the chances just as we did with the championship game for having our teams seriously considered in terms of national competition. And we've also focused on our own ability through the contracts that we already have to determine what kind of benefits expansion, financial benefits expansion might bring to the conference.
So we're looking at it not so much at this point in time in connection with the possibility of creating a Big 12 linear network, although we continue to express our interest in possible digital platforms as well and a possible digital arrangement for broadcasting certain of our sports and will continue to explore that with all of our traditional partners and with others as well.
But we decided to look at the impact that an expansion of either two or four teams might have on the conference in these other areas, both to our financial‑‑ whether it be to our financial advantage to do so; would it be to our advantage, competitive advantage in terms of increasing even further beyond what we've already just done with the championship game, to make sure that our teams are fully considered in national competition.

Q. This question is for either Bob or Mr.Boren. Back in May at the Big 12 meetings, when discussing expansion, you had mentioned that, yes, TD markets were important, the financial aspects was important, but also to be careful not to dilute the competitive reputation of the conference. I'm curious now moving forward, is that still part of the process in terms of the evaluation that you will still be looking for in perspective schools? Can you kind of outline a little bit will this involve on‑campus visits or what you'll ask the schools to do that are interested?
DAVID BOREN: I think that‑‑ I'll ask the commissioner to please comment on this as well‑‑ obviously we want to find, if we are to expand, we want to find the strongest possible partners for expansion. And we talk about strong partners. We're not talking about just athletic partners, which of course that's very important; what is the fan base; what is the TV following, the broadcast following of these teams. But also what are the academic standards of these schools, what reputations do these schools have as institutions of integrity and shared values with us.
So there are a number of factors that will be considered and that the commissioner, I will let him speak to it, will be evaluating as he contacts these schools that have expressed interest to us.
BOB BOWLSBY: It will be an ongoing process. We're just finished with the meeting, and I don't know that I'm prepared to put a timeframe on it right now. But we intend to be active very soon. We have been contacted by a number of institutions, and my guess is that after this news breaks we'll be contacted by them again.
There likely will be a two‑stage process of some sort that will involve some preliminary work, and then a secondary process as well that gets into a little more of a ‑‑ perhaps even a fact‑finding but also perhaps even a negotiation stage.
So we think that, like the championship game, our board evaluated the data, listened to our consultants, had a good, frank, forthright conversation among themselves and saw the path forward clearly and have taken steps.
And so we now need to go away from this meeting and think about it from a logistical standpoint and put a plan together.
But I would be presumptuous and not fully honest if I told you that I have a completely fleshed‑out plan on it at this point.

Q. Bob, did you address a timeline for when you want to get this done, or Dr.Boren? I didn't hear it. And what level of concern is there for your television partners, that you've gone to them now for $30 million a year for a championship game. They're paying for an ACC network at some point in the future. What money is going to be left without antagonizing those partners to expand?
BOB BOWLSBY: Well, you know we have provisions in our existing contracts that were negotiated along with the 12‑year agreements that we made. And those stipulations were put in the contracts in anticipation of the possibility of fluctuations.
And not only do they address very specifically the additions of institutions, but they also address the deletion of institutions. So the contract was anticipatory of the change that is present in college athletics, and I have to give a lot of credit to Kevin Sweeney, our counsel, for having the foresight to negotiate these things and have them in their contracts.
So we expect to exercise the full prerogatives of what we negotiated.
DAVID BOREN: The provisions, of course, as you know do protect us so that current member shares will not be diluted if we were to add two or four more teams. There's a contractual obligation to pay that additional amount pro rata that we're already receiving if there is an expansion, a hypothetical expansion of the conference. It's already covered in our contracts, does not require additional negotiation of the contracts.

Q. I want to follow up. I understand all that. The question is, I guess, what level of concern is there that you might antagonize those television partners because in eight years this league's going to have to renegotiate a new contract and you're going to the well for a second time, it sounds like, in a few months with them.
BOB BOWLSBY: In both the case of the championship game and in the case of the pro rata adjustments, you know, we're in complete compliance with the contract. And it's a mutually binding contract that we put in place four and a half years ago.
So I don't think we have to make apologies for activating around stipulations that we both agreed to.

Q. Back to Baylor, somewhat related, I guess my first question is was the board able to speak to or did the board ask to speak to any of the Pepper Hamilton lawyers involved in preparing the report, and kind of relatedly, comparing the statement today to the statement from last month about requesting the information, I'm just kind of curious if, David, you could speak to kind of the board's interest in it, because the statement today refers to terms like institutional compliance, or institutional control which kind of come up in the context of compliance issues, whether with the NCAA or what have you. But the statement last month also referenced just more basically student‑athlete welfare, and I guess is the interest more just making sure that Baylor follows rules going forward and doesn't‑‑ or is it more about actually looking out for kind of students at Baylor who might not technically be under athletic purview?
DAVID BOREN: I think really the two are related. The kinds of rules that we were talking about, for example, having full institutional control of the situation, as you know, and what has already been published in terms of the recommendations coming from Pepper Hamilton for changes, there was a great deal of alarm about the fact that student welfare was not being protected by having complaints, allegations of misconduct if they involved student‑athletes going to the athletics department instead of going to the Title IX, the appropriate Title IX office.
So for the safety and security of students, it was felt to be very important that the full Title IX process be available to students at Baylor, that the institutional framework that was set up would invite students to come in and make it a comfortable place for them to come and to make these reports at a place to file allegations of misconduct, in a place that they knew‑‑ that their complaints would be objectively evaluated and they, therefore, would be protected.
So in saying, for example, today‑‑ and I think I also added that our whole concern begins, of course, with concern for the welfare of all the students at our member institutions and for their safety and well being. And in order to assure that safety, a very robust online process is necessary, not one that's led by part‑time people who have other duties, people who've not been potentially trained, allowing a separate complaint process to be set up in the athletics department where it would not come through the normal Title IX process.
All of those things really are the kinds of things that put at risk student welfare. So we wanted to make sure that the institution has the appropriate elements of control going forward and that includes a very robust Title IX process, separate and apart from the athletics department.
Also, we were told that all compliance programs are going to be removed from the athletics department and put in an independent place at Baylor University reporting directly into the general counsel and the president.
Those are things that relate back to student welfare very directly. Now, we've had‑‑ and we've had members, we've had the commissioner and we've had other members of our Big 12 staff have conversations with the administration at Baylor. And we felt that while they had very strong intentions of putting these kinds of protections in place, making these kinds of changes, so that we can make sure that we're meeting our responsibility as fellow members of the Big 12, we've had some good conversations.
But we felt it especially important that we not only have the commitment of the president of the university and the entire university administration. But you know you can have procedures on the books, but there also has to be a strong commitment from the Board of Regents, the governing board of the university, to support the university administration in working to change the culture, working to establish these strong kinds of procedural ways and safeguards for our students.
So we felt it very important. And when we extended the request that Baylor University make a presentation to our board, we stressed the fact that we hoped that it would not only be a report from the administration, but that it would also be a report and comments from members of the Board of Regents.
We were very pleased today that Mr.Murff, the chairman of the board, Mr.Ron Murff, was here today, and also David Harper, the chairman of the regent's committee on student affairs, was also here. And we heard from them, and it was something that we were very glad to hear, very happy to hear, that these reforms that the administration is committing itself to has the very strong support and backing of these leaders of the Board of Regents, and that the Board of Regents intends to work hand in glove with the administration in making very positive changes and a compliance culture and activating these protective rules and procedures for students going forward.
So we thought hearing from both the administration and members of the board today, both were very important to us and both the board members who were here, including the chairman of the board and of course President Garland, were very strong in expressing their commitment to the kind of changes that we think will be very beneficial to Baylor University in the future.

Q. For both of you, with the announcement today, is this a key step forward in expansion? And does this mean at this point that expansion is more likely than not, or almost probable at this point? Or could you clarify exactly where things stand?
DAVID BOREN: I think it's a statement from the board that we want to move forward. We've had discussion of the attributes of some of those schools that have come to us and expressed interest. And that we want to move forward and have a full evaluation of exactly the level of their interest, what kind of proposals they might make to us in terms of terms and conditions for joining the conference.
So I would say, yes, it's a forward step. It's a positive step. It's not yet a decision, if any particular university or college ‑‑ or even a definite decision about when we expand or the way, the form this would take. But it's definitely a forward step, and I think it shows momentum on the board to very seriously consider this as a possibility.
BOB BOWLSBY: I agree with that statement. I think that this continues to be exploratory, but it's clearly another step forward and one that our board felt very good about. I think in the end, these organizations most times do things by acclimation. We very seldom take votes, but on this one we did take a vote and everyone was supportive of it.
I think what that means is they're supportive in concept and there's a lot of work left to do. And it will be up to the staff and I to do that. And I think it will come back with a response. And I don't know whether it will come in the form of recommendations or whether it will come in the form of another presentation to our board.
It's possible that this could extend to our October board meeting, but it's also possible that we could have a special meeting sometime between now and then.
But I would say clearly it's another step in the process.

Q. You sort of answered most of the questions I had in mind. If you could clarify one thing, Bob, I believe you said everyone was on board, and you took a vote. To be more specific, it was a unanimous vote?
DAVID BOREN: It was a unanimous vote to move forward by asking the commissioner to follow up. That was the motion to instruct the commissioner to follow up with those schools that had contacted us and expressed interest and to evaluate their expressions of interest and level of seriousness as well as the level of preparedness to go forward with us in a meaningful discussions.
So it was a motion. It was approved unanimously without dissent. And so it does move the process forward.

Q. Bob, I know you sort of have a consulting role in this process. Was exploring expansion something that you thought was the right move? And could things possibly move fast enough that two schools could be on board for the 2016‑17 season in the first year of the football championship?
BOB BOWLSBY: Well, we'll be 17/18 with the first year of the football playoff. So we have one more year down the way. But to answer the first question, yes, I was supportive of it. I was particularly pleased that this was another all‑day session where our board really engaged. And it's not easy to get ten chancellors and presidents to stay focused. But I looked around the room, and with ten people that have a huge number of issues on their plate every day, year in, year out, everybody's mobile device was on the table and they were all engaged in the presentations and all listening and engaged in the discussions.
And it was a very good day. As President Boren stated, this certainly wasn't a final step. But it was a progressive step. And I think it's altogether consistent with the action that was taken at the last meeting.

Q. I would like to get back to Baylor for just one quick moment. The Pepper Hamilton report that we are being told was only an oral presentation, I'd like to get your thoughts on that. A lot of people reasonably believe that that may be done at the request of the Board of Regents. What your thoughts are on why they would ask for no physical or tangible report to be given? And as a follow‑up to that, do you believe that the community that supports Baylor deserves to know more about what exactly happened here?
BOB BOWLSBY: I think what we heard from the Baylor leadership was that all findings of facts were presented in the materials that were released to the public. And all 105 follow‑up actions and stipulations were also released to the public.
We got some insight as to how the process unfolded and why it unfolded that way. The board had a number of questions that the Baylor leadership very satisfactorily provided answers to. And I think that they reiterated that all findings of fact were included in the document titled Findings of Fact. I suppose that it's easy to assert that they requested an oral presentation. And we didn't ask specifically about that particular element of it.
But they repeated the fact that all components of the findings were presented in the materials that are publicly available and they gave us a status report on the things that are among the list of 105 recommendations that they are working their way very diligently through and have already made very good progress. They've quadrupled the amount of spending on Title IX compliance. They've doubled the number of counselors that they have on their campus. In a relatively short period of time they've made some remarkable progress.
DAVID BOREN: They've added also a well known professional person to lead the Title IX process and to examine it on the campus to make sure it can be strengthened.
We're assured that while the report was oral, part of that was for financial reasons, because during the course of the matter, the two lead investigators and their staffs from Pepper Hamilton, two women who led the actual review, looked at and had access to many computers on the campus.
They looked at literally thousands, into the hundreds of thousands of e‑mails and electronic messages. They ‑‑ telephone calls, other things, they were able to monitor. So the sheer amount of data was very large. But when you read the report or conclusions of the report, there were certainly‑‑ we could find no way in which they were stepping back from our failing to recognize some very serious flaws in terms of what had gone on in the past.
As you know, a number of actions have been taken there including the removal of several key officials. One of the other things, our purposes were to learn as much as we possibly could. We felt we received candor, total candor from both the administration and from the members of the Board of Regents of Baylor today. And we also wanted to make sure that we were not doing anything to stand in the way of the proper evaluation of what has gone on by other institutions like the NCAA, for example, which has its own role to play. And we were assured also by Baylor that they were fully cooperating with the NCAA inquiry into all of these matters.
So overall, I would say they were very forthcoming today and the strong commitment to the changes that are necessary to make a basic change in the culture on the campus and to have all of their students feel protected. We feel they're making those changes now as it impacts the future and we appreciate, as I say, the support of not only the administration for these actions, but we know that those things can't be continued by any administration without strong support from the boards of regents and that was expressed today.

Q. Do you feel the public deserves more about this? Why exactly was Art Briles fired, and why is the remainder of his staff in place? There's still a lot of questions in the Baylor community, and we don't seem to be getting a lot of answers from Baylor on that. And I'm wondering what your thoughts on that are.
BOB BOWLSBY: Well, our thoughts are that there are certain elements of these kinds of processes that institutions are simply not permitted to release. Even a redacted report on these kinds of incidents would likely violate FRPA regulations.
So the Findings of Fact represent not only the major components but all components of the findings. And I think that, as was mentioned by President Boren, there likely are lots of documents at the law firm of Pepper Hamilton.
But when this is put in any sort of written form, with the victims' names and survivors' names and perpetrators' names, all of which have to be redacted, it's just not possible to make those things available and still comply with federal law.
So I suspect that there will be many components of the initial investigation and the follow‑up reporting that simply aren't available for public consumption.

Q. I think the desire and intent of the board toward expansion, that both of you have accurately portrayed that. My only question is whether it's from the consultants or the discussion amongst the board today, is there any criteria, any attributes, anything that the Big 12 is looking for in particular to candidates that you can express at this point as far as schools you've considered?
DAVID BOREN: Well, as I said a while ago we're not looking at any one factor. Obviously we're look at the strength of the athletic programs, their competitiveness. We're looking at the fan base; we're looking at access to media markets. And also we're very much looking at the reputations of these institutions for integrity. We're looking at the academic standards of these universities, the level of research and teaching at these institutions.
So we're looking at a whole composite of factors not just any one factor. So it's really impossible to single out any one. All of those things will come into play and we'll be able to look at, say, a range of how these universities compare, those that have expressed interest to us, how they compare with each other in all of those categories. And we're very seriously concerned about all those categories, because we obviously stand for athletic competitiveness, winning in the right way.
We also stand for academic excellence. When we use the term student‑athlete, we use that very seriously and that's just not a slogan.
So, for example, I have a lot of pride in how our institution has competed athletically this year‑‑ two final fours in basketball and football and gymnastics championships and softball and so on. But I'm also proud of the fact that we've now had eight straight semesters in which our student‑athletes have had above a 3.0 average composite. And that's really important to me because these students are not only great athletes in many cases, but they contribute so much to our schools that way. But they're also great citizens of the university.
And they contribute in those ways. They contribute in the classroom as students, many of them. We had so many this year, I think the number approached 80, that had a 4.0 average. I'm talking about all sports combined that had sports letters and sports scholarships this year.
They contribute in so many ways. So we want people‑‑ if we are to expand, we want to make sure that our expansion partners are the kinds of universities that share our basic outlooks and our basic values.
BOB BOWLSBY: And the other thing I would add to that is that we‑‑ I would say that we are looking for members that will grow over time as we grow, that will bring stability to the conference and that have a high top end, will benefit from an affiliation with the schools that are currently in our conference. And I think those that will‑‑ you know, they're going to join a family. And it's important that they strengthen the family and we strengthen them.
DAVID BOREN: I think that's right. I want to add to what the commissioner said. One of the things that was interesting to me today in the consultants' presentations and a look back at the history of expansion in other conferences and what's happened to some of those schools that have joined other conferences. There's been a high level of improvement in those schools, from the time that they joined the conferences.
It strengthened their own schedule; it strengthened their own ability to compete. And competition is always very beneficial to any institution. It makes us better.
And I think what we find, is very interesting to find is that some of the schools we found that even in our own conference I suppose you'd have to say, if you're being honest, some of the schools, we had high expectations for them when they came into the conference but they've exceeded their expectations in many cases in terms of their competitiveness after they have been a member of this conference playing other members of the conference, competing with them. Competition is good for all of us, and we're looking at those schools that are not only have arrived competitively but have a huge potential to improve their competitive capabilities, too, by becoming members of our conference.

Q. President Boren, relating to the Baylor presentation today, was the board presented with any evidence that would support the firing of Art Briles as head coach and the dismissal of Ken Starr as president, and if so, what was that evidence?
DAVID BOREN: I would say we did not seek specific evidence on this matter, because our interest is making sure that universities have the proper governance producers to implement their own institutional control. It's not the role of the conference to examine the internal operations of any university on‑‑ take evidence on a particular case. The Big 12 Board of Directors does not hire and fire individuals in any capacity at any university.
But what we need to make sure of and what we attempted to make sure of today is that we have processes and elements of governance at the university that they have the proper levels of institutional control so that they can take action when such action is warranted.
I would just say that one of my reactions today was disappointment that the full elements of Title IX had not been implemented in the past in a way to protect students who wanted to bring complaints of improper behavior in a manner in which they knew they would be very impartially evaluated, that there would not be retribution. And that's obviously something that does not belong in any particular department, including an athletics department. That is a university‑wide responsibility.
And we were very encouraged by the fact that President Garland obviously has a very strong commitment, already taken action in bringing additional people, as has been said by the commissioner, to the campus in the Title IX office, making it much more robust. And the regents certainly made it clear that they were going to support those continued improvements in the future.

Q. To borrow a phrase from you guys, would any of the members of the five high visibility conferences be on the table for expansion right now? And also how much did the ACC extend any grant of rights affect what went on in the meetings today and the vote and pursuing expansion?
DAVID BOREN: I think I've already said that obviously it is an important development, something for us to watch, because it serves notice on us that we are still a part of a very changing environment and intercollegiate sports, that we cannot just sit on the sidelines and not be proactive ourselves.
I hope that just one person‑‑ my feeling is as long as they're intercollegiate conferences I hope that the Big 12 is going to be there among those intercollegiate conferences, stronger than ever, better than ever, here for years to come. And I think the members of the conference really have a commitment to making sure that we make our conference as strong as possible, as beneficial to all of its members as possible and therefore indirectly to make it very beneficial to all of our student‑athletes who belong to the universities, attend the universities, the members of the conference.
So there's certainly a feeling that we have to stay very much tuned to what's going on. And so that's‑‑ I think it was in part‑‑ it certainly influenced our decision to move forward, ask the commissioner to move forward to evaluate what was going on.
As I say, we don't know all the details yet about the about the agreement with the ACC. We won't know. We know there's some times off in the future in which the lineal network and the financial payments will be spelled out. But beyond that, really it had an impact, of course. All things in a changing environment have an impact on us.
And just like we've said before in our last meeting we're exploring ways to use digital technologies that will enhance the ability of our competitions to be brought to audiences across the country.
So we want to be on the cutting edge. We intend to continue to try to be on the cutting edge in the Big 12 Conference. So, yes, that along with all sorts of other developments have had an impact on our thinking.

Q. And the prospect of exploring expansion with teams already in Power Five conferences?
DAVID BOREN: I think it would be inappropriate to comment about what teams have expressed interest to us. I want to underline the fact that‑‑ that the Big 12 Conference has not gone out and sought conversations with other schools. Other schools have come to us. It's a nice position to be in. Sometimes you may think you have to change your cell phone number because the number of schools that want to express interest in coming to join the Big 12 Conference. It's nice to be in a position where you're wanted, and we've certainly been made to feel wanted by a lot of colleges and universities across the country.
That's really the situation. They're coming to us. We're not attempting to go out and recruit. There's no need to do that. We have a lot of volunteers who are coming to us, and now we're simply going to move forward to the next step and make sure that we very seriously evaluate their interests.
And as I said, the question earlier, I think, we sort of intertwined the whole question of expansion with whether or not we were going to have a conference network. But there's still many other advantages, as you look at what's happened with other conferences.
Other conferences have grown, other advantages have come to them, not related to whether or not they have networks or what kind of networks they have in this fast‑moving digital age as well as the linear age.
So there are other advantages‑‑ financial advantages, competitive advantages, opportunities to play for national championships. So we'll be looking at all of those other advantages that may not necessarily be directly related to the network question, but there are other advantages we'll be examining to see how it works.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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