Thread by @RossDellenger

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby tells @SINow that he has documented evidence that ESPN tried to encourage an unnamed conference to add Big 12 members in an effort to destabilize the league so Texas & OU could avoid exit fees.

"It is tortious interference," he says.

@SInow Bowlsby: "It causes me to further suspect they (ESPN) had their hands all over the Texas and Oklahoma move to the SEC. They were was deceptive as you can possibly be. There are right and wrong ways to these things. They sought to deceive us from the very beginning."

@SInow Bowlsby tells @SINow that he learned of Texas and OU's potential move to the SEC like everyone else did: From media reports last Wednesday.

He was returning from a campus visit to Kansas when he learned of the report.

The plane landed and "our phones blew up," he says.

@SInow Bowlsby on OU and Texas: "They acted the part of happy members. Had we been aware of some grievances, we would have attempted to address it. I’m sure they’ll try to get out of the exit fee and the Grant of Rights."

@SInow After learning of the report, Bowlsby reached out to Texas & OU officials, who told him that this is only exploratory & is a long-term process.

SEC presidents meet tomorrow to potentially vote to extend an invitation.

Bowlsby: "Funny thing happened to that long-term process."

@SInow Bowlsby on the Big 12 future: "If our schools hang together - I realize they have to cover their back side - we’ll have some options going forward. But it’s not going to be easy to replace Oklahoma and Texas."

@SInow ESPN's statement on Bowlsby's allegations: “The claims in the letter have no merit.”

@SInow Can confirm that the unnamed conference that Bowlsby is referencing is the American, source tells @SINow.

@SInow All of this in story form here, thanks to @WiltonReports, on a travel day for yours truly

bit.ly/37bAPU0