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Bowlsby said the numbers indicate that adding a championship game -- a 13th data point, in playoff lingo -- along with expansion to 12 teams and an eight-game conference schedule is the best hope for the playoff. That combination increases a conference's playoff chances by about 5 percent, according to the models.

Will it be enough to sway football coaches who expressed skepticism about a title game last month on a media teleconference? Bowlsby acknowledged that it's not as persuasive as, say, a 20 percent improvement.

Big 12 athletic directors and coaches will be presented with data Wednesday that shows a significant increase in the likelihood the league would reach the College Football Playoff if it expands to 12 or more teams.
Analytics from Navigate Research are expected to show the Big 12 has at least a 10-15 percent better chance of reaching the CFP in any given year if it expands as opposed to staying in its 10-team configuration.

The most prominent names that continue to be mentioned for expansion include BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, UConn, Houston and Memphis.

No decision on the future composition of the Big 12 is expected to be made until the league's spring meetings -- May 31 to June 3 in Dallas -- at the earliest.

League coaches and athletic directors are meeting separately this week in Phoenix. Big 12 presidents, who will ultimately make a decision, will be in Dallas later this month.

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Bowlsby reiterated that a decision -- whatever it is -- needs to be made this year. The league added West Virginia and TCU to complete its current roster of 10 in 2012.

“The good news is the last time we added members we didn't have the same urgency,” Bowlsby said. “I just think we need to act expediently.”