West Virginia University President Gordon Gee was named the chairman of the Big 12’s board of directors last week. It’s a significant role, and it drives agendas and conversations alike. When you’re in that seat in a Power 5 conference, you have considerable clout. Consider this: Oklahoma President David Boren made a lot of headlines in the past year or so about the state of the Big 12. He was the chairman of the board.

Gee isn’t new to the hierarchy of the Big 12 or college athletics, and though he’s new to this particular role, he’s not unaware of the challenges and the need for solutions. Here’s a worthwhile read about the Big 12’s horizon and how the chairman sees it.

“The Big Ten Network was very successful because it was the first and they built a great network. I think the days of building a television network as a single institution are past,” Dr. Gee said. “This whole new environment makes you think both individually and collectively how your fans are going to have an opportunity to be a part of your athletic programs.

“As far as building your own network, I think that is looking into the rear-view mirror.”

The turmoil that surrounded the Big 12 for some time has at least temporarily been shut down.

The league was existing without a championship game, which hurt its place when it came to postseason selections for the College Football Playoff, leading to a push to expand to at least 12 teams to create two divisions.

Two camps were at odds, those for expansion and those against it. Dr. Gee was among those who wanted to expand.

In the end a compromise was met that included creating a championship game but without expansion, which allows the teams to cut the pie 10 ways and still have a champion decided on the field in a high-revenue event.

“I think there will be substantial stability over the next five or eight years until the contracts come up again,” he said. “Then there could be some reconfiguration.”