Bowlsby: Some in Big 12 fear Baylor scandal has ‘sullied’ league
The Big 12 is coming off a season in which it placed a team in the College Football Playoff and will reintroduce a conference championship game next season. There’s plenty to discuss about the immediate past and future along with the present of Big 12 football.
But the topic that dominated commissioner Bob Bowlsby’s opening statement, at least the question-and-answer session with reporters, was Baylor.
One line stood out.
“I think there are certainly those among our board that have felt that the image of the Big 12 and the other members of the Big 12 have been sullied as a result of this incident,” Bowlsby said.
Sullied by the sexual-assault scandal. In May, an investigation commissioned by Baylor found a “fundamental failure” by the university, its athletic department and football team to respond appropriately to a series of sexual-assault allegations against football players.
The law firm, Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton, found that for years the athletic department oversaw a “failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence.”
The Big 12 board — presidents and chancellors — will meet with Baylor leadership on Tuesday in Dallas. The league has asked for a full accounting from the investigation, but Bowlsby said Baylor has told him the school doesn’t have a written report beyond the 13-page finding of facts that has been released.
“What we have in writing, you have in writing,” Bowlsby said.
But concern remains. Baylor has already met with NCAA officials to discuss possible infractions like extra benefits and that will be part of the discussion with the Big 12 board on Tuesday, Bowlsby said. Baylor lost football coach Art Briles, president Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw over the scandal.
“From a purely athletic standpoint, we also have to be satisfied that there haven’t been Big 12 rules broken and that there haven’t been NCAA rules violated,” Bowlsby said. “That is the essence of our process, and it’s very early in the process right now. We will be continuing to work on it. Baylor has been very forthcoming and I don’t have any doubt that they will continue to be forthcoming.
“But let it suffice to say as it pertains to all of our institutions, we are very committed as a group of 10 schools to eradicating sexual assault on our campuses. It almost goes without saying that when you combine alcohol and drugs and raging hormones and the experiences of 18- to 22-year-olds, it’s probably unrealistic to think that these kinds of things are never going to happen.”
This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Bowlsby: Some in Big 12 fear Baylor scandal has ‘sullied’ league."