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Message: [QUOTE="jostar1, post: 1746495, member: 1737"] Mike Finger ‏@mikefinger · 37m37 minutes ago Texas' expansion decision: Is it time to bend again? [URL="http://www.expressnews.com/sports/columnists/mike_finger/article/UT-s-decision-Is-it-time-to-bend-again-8399440.php"]UT’s decision: Is it time to bend again?[/URL] From the story: Now, with the rest of its Big 12 brethren overcome with expansion fever, UT faces a similar question about whether or not budging is worth it. To be clear, no one officially voted to add teams to the conference this week. Instead, the unanimous vote by the league’s board of directors — comprised of presidents and chancellors — was to authorize commissioner Bob Bowlsby to contact potential candidates. This might sound like semantics, but the difference between agreeing to explore expansion and agreeing to actually expand is huge. Texas president Greg Fenves, chancellor Bill McRaven and athletic director Mike Perrin have agreed to the former. But they’ll still need some additional persuading to go all the way. UT officials have said all along they’re not opposed to expansion, but will consider it only if they can be convinced a worthy candidate can be added. Wednesday, Fenves repeated that sentiment in a statement to the Express-News. “I’m open to expansion if the proposal is a strong one,” Fenves said. “The conference is actively evaluating the possibilities.” So if the Longhorns can find as few as two like-minded partners within the league, they will be able to block candidates they don’t want (just like any other member can). They might decide to go along with the popular choice. They might not. UT sources indicated Wednesday that while administrators didn’t undergo a change of heart about expansion this week, they went from “open and skeptical” to “open and less skeptical.” For those pushing for expansion, that might be enough. [/QUOTE]

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