UNDATED (AP) – The 10 schools that make up the Big 12 are bound together by a deal committing their television rights to the conference through the 2024-25 school year.

Expansion wasn’t going to change that, so the Big 12 declined yesterday to add two schools from a group of 11 that included BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. The conference’s leaders then tried their best to put forth a unified front and positive outlook for the future.

In spite of yesterday’s decision, the Big 12 still has much to figure out in the near and long-term. For one, the conference must decide how best to implement its football championship game, which is slated to return next year. Almost all available solutions are square-peg-round-hole proposals, but the conference thinks it needs the game to better its chances at the College Football Playoff and raise more revenue.

The Big 12 paid out $30.2 million to each of its members this year, a record amount and third most among Power Five conferences. Still, long-term projections have the Big Ten and SEC pulling away in the revenue race from the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC over the coming years.

Bowlsby said figuring new ways to generate more is one of the conference’s top priorities.