The ISU administrative office and athletic department both declined comment regarding a recent ESPN.com report that Iowa State had reached out to the Big East in the case of the demise of the Big 12 conference.

Steve Malchow, associate athletic director for Iowa State, told the Iowa State Daily on Monday that he could not verify the legitimacy of the report.

“I think we’ve been quiet on all those various rumors that have been circulating the last several months,” Malchow said. “I think we’ll stay [in] the stance that we have.”

John McCarroll, executive director of university relations, told the Iowa State Daily on Monday that ISU President Gregory Geoffroy will not comment on any report for the time being.

“The president and the athletic director [Jamie Pollard] have not offered any comment on these reports,” said McCarroll, who was quick to note he was not authorized to speak on the matter. “There’s so many reports, the situation seems to be changing daily, and they simply have not offered comment.”

At the Big 12 football coaches’ teleconference on Monday morning, UT coach Mack Brown said that Texas and its administration is bent on keeping the Big 12 together.

“I want us to stay in the Big 12 because it’s about our players and our players’ parents have a better chance to see them play if we’re in a regional conference and our high school coaches have a better chance to see them play,” Brown said. “That’s where my concerns would be, but I know Texas would love to see the Big 12 stay together.”

OU coach Bob Stoops, however, did not share the same sentiments during the teleconference.

“I think everybody that has been here the last couple of years was for all that as I was,” Stoops said. “But at the end of the day, as landscape changes, you have to change with it and there’s a lot to consider, which our university officials are considering.”

On Monday, the Oklahoma Board of Regents granted OU President David Boren the official authority to seek a possible new home for the university. The Texas Board of Regents granted the same authority to UT President Bill Powers shortly afterward, with one of the options to remain a part of the Big 12.

Baylor coach Art Briles was also asked about the possible breakup during the teleconference but negated to speak on the matter since his opinions “doesn’t have any bearing on what’s happening.”

Baylor was the other school along with Iowa State that was reported to have reached out to the Big East in the possible collapse of the Big 12.

Since Malchow and McCarroll were contacted by the Daily on Monday afternoon, newly developing reports have surfaced via the Associated Press about the possible merger of the Big 12 and Big East conferences if Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech depart for the Pac-12. Those reports, however, have yet to be verified by school administration as well.