LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Before BYU’s 24-16 victory over the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, BYU AD Tom Holmoe kind addressed the reports of a potential Big 12 invite coming to Provo.

Holmoe was on BYUtv’s “Countdown To Kickoff” in Las Vegas, where he was asked by host Dave McCann, “Where is BYU in regards to the Big 12 tonight?”

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 300 times over the last 17 years. We are going to put ourselves in a position where our student athletes can play against the best athletes and teams in the country,” Holmoe said.

"We're gonna put ourselves a position where we have our student athletes being able to play against the very best teams and athletes in the country." – @TomHolmoe #BYUC2K #BYUFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/cEdyxWJ1r3

— BYUtv Sports (@byutvsports) September 5, 2021

Holmoe continued, “When we were in the Mountain West Conference, we tried everything we could to play non-conference games and the really good teams in the conference. When we went Independent, we expanded that quest, and we’ve continued to grow. We’re at a spot right now where we just keep trying to keep that quest alive. So we’ll see what happens.”

Reports emerged on Friday from Sports Illustrated that BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF were all set to apply for membership into the Big 12 Conference next week. With Big 12 Presidents then voting on the applications as soon as Friday, September 10.

The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy hopped on KSL Sports’ Cougar Tracks Podcast and said BYU in the Big 12 “isn’t a matter of ‘if’ it’s ‘when?'”

Holmoe, who received National Athletic Director of the Year honors during the 2020-21 academic year, didn’t provide further details or comments on the Big 12 expansion reports.

“That’s what I’ll say on this tonight,” Holmoe said.

Since 2011, BYU football has competed as an FBS Independent. The Cougars have won five bowl games since joining the Independent ranks and have had one season that finished ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll. That was last year where BYU finished with a No. 11 ranking.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.