A poll of Big 12 players across the 10 conference teams revealed that 75% of the 24 surveyed players would prefer for the league to expand.
The poll, conducted by The Dallas Morning News at Big 12 media days earlier this month, also asked players which team they’d prefer to add to the Big 12. To that question, 50% of the players voted for Houston — with 12 of 24 votes. BYU and Nebraska each received three votes as distant runners-up.
Alabama, which has been in no discussion to join the league, received two votes. Hawaii, which would be a difficult addition because of the strain on the travel budget, received one vote. And one player even campaigned for Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse North Dakota State.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said last summer that he was open to exploring expansion. But those ideas later dissolved with pushback from school presidents and athletic directors.
