Mr. College Football Says Louisville Will Be The Next Big 12 Addition

Tony Barnhart, AKA Mr. College Football, a sports journalist for CBS Sports and the Atlanta Journal Constitution was a guest this afternoon on the Tim Brando show on Yahoo! Sports Radio. One of the topics that Barnhart and Brando discussed was the future of the Big 12. When asked about the next possible Big 12 addition, Louisville was the school that Barnhart mentioned.

Louisville fans had been under the impression that it was only a matter of time before the Cards make the jump from the Big East to the Big 12. That opinion changed dramatically over the past few months as other schools such as Florida State, Clemson, and Notre Dame have been mentioned as possible Big 12 expansion teams. Although Louisville has still looked like a solid option for the Big 12, other schools expressing interest in the league doesn’t make it look as much like a done deal as we initially thought.

Barnhart’s statements strictly appeared to be an opinion rather than a fact. He didn’t claim to have sources that tell him Louisville will be the next team in the Big 12, but that he thinks that the Cards will be the next team added.

I have no inside information in regards to conference expansion. In fact, I don’t think very many people do. 99% of conference expansion talk is speculation in my opinion. However, I do think that if and when the Big 12 expands, Louisville will be a top candidate. Considering that the ACC schools appear to be staying put, if I had to guess, which is exactly what I’m doing. I’d say Notre Dame and Louisville would be the first two teams to receive and invitation to the Big 12. BYU is also being mentioned quite a bit.