The Big 12 is moving at a glacial pace in considering expanding and have whittled down their list to 11 candidates which include Air Force and Colorado State.

Commisioner Craig Thompson reiterated what he said at Mountain West media days regarding expansion, and it could happen even if current memebers do get an invite to the Big 12.

“I can say this — and I said it at our [football] media days. We have a lot of people saying, ‘If there’s an opportunity to be in your league, we’re interested.’ So there are numbers there,” Thompson said while at the Utah State vs. Weber State game. “I’ve challenged our membership to think about expansion — with or without losing [current] members. Do we look east? Do we look at the state of Texas, for example?

“So that’s probably going to be something we have to confront this year.”

Going into Texas is the most logical choices for the Mountain West with schools like UTEP — whom have a rich history with half of the league — UTSA, Texas State, Rice or North Texas out of C-USA.

Depending on what happens to the AAC and their teams in Big 12 expansion there could be options from that league in SMU, Tulsa or maybe even Houston if they get passed over for a Power Five spot.

One off the wall choice could be Arkansas State out of the Sun Belt as they seem to be eager to move up, and they have a recent history of football success.