Oklahoma President David Boren Wants a 12-team Big 12

The Oklahoman broke news today that may be interesting to Bearcat fans... Oklahoma president David Boren wants the 10-team Big 12 to add two teams. He wants a 12-team Big 12.

"I think it's something we should strive for while we have the time, stability, all of that to look and be choosy," Boren said. "(We) can be very selective about who we want to add. It would have to add value to the conference. I think we should."

Boren went on to reference how the Longhorn Network, which keeps the Big 12 from establishing their own conference network like the Big 10, ACC and SEC, is a problem the conference faces now, but the thing we care about right now is that Boren wants to add teams.

And Cincinnati is considered by many to be on the shortlist.

"Still, to get to 12, the conference would have to pair BYU with another school. There are several other "free agents" out there, including Memphis, UCF, Air Force, Cincinnati, Houston and even SMU." - ESPN's Jake Trotter

My ranking of most valuable Power 5 additions: [1] #Bearcats, [2] #Houston, [3] #BYU, [4] #BoiseState https://t.co/970JDc7wc8

— The Ernst Report (@TheErnstReport) June 24, 2015

The Big 12, according to Boren, is in a place of comfort right now. Boren wants to search and seek out two new teams to add in the fold and, while there isn't a real search at this point, you have to think that Cincinnati would be one of the main teams considered.

Television market, quality of competition and location are just a few of the factors to be considered when wildly speculating here, but Cincinnati's location and ability to compete at a high level in both basketball and football key into two of those main factors. The television market is still large, even if it is more saturated than the BYU market. Cincinnati is set academically and even has some shared hatred with West Virginia from their Big East days for a built-in rivalry.

From a Cincinnati-centric perspective, the move would make a lot of sense and would give the Bearcats the room to grow. I posed the question a couple weeks ago about Cincinnati's margin of error this season and many felt they needed an undefeated season, justifiably so, because of the relatively weak AAC conference schedule. If the Bearcats were playing at a high level in the Big 12 though, that margin would widen. Plus, although there may be growing pains early on, Cincinnati is a type of program that would adapt and show well in a competitive conference with the resources at their disposal. They already recruit well and the allure of Big 12 football would only help recruiting efforts.

Personally, I believe Cincinnati is a wonderful fit for the Big 12 and would fit in well from a competitive standpoint. It's way too early to get too fired up about potentially becoming team 11 or 12 in the Big 12, but it's fun to speculate and wonder. And while we wonder, let's just pretend for a second that the already tough road trip to Provo, Utah on Friday, October 16 is a glimpse into a future where both teams are in the Big 12.

Wouldn't that be fun.