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Social Hour: Big 12 vote denies Baker Mayfield extra year

Yahoo Sports Staff

A tie in the Big 12 voting means Baker Mayfield has just one season left at Oklahoma.

Mayfield was forced to lose a year of eligibility when he transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma. Had the rule change gotten one more vote in favor, Mayfield would have had two seasons left to play at Oklahoma.

"I'm incredibly disappointed the rule change proposal wasn't passed today at Big 12 meetings. I hope the conference will reconsider its decision and put the welfare of student-athletes first. It only makes sense for the Big 12's rules to be consistent with those of the NCAA when it comes to non-scholarship walk-on student-athletes," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said in a statement. "Yes, today's vote impacts Baker Mayfield, but in reality this is about all student-athletes in all sports at Big 12 schools. Again, I'm disappointed for Baker, but also for anyone down the road who may be negatively impacted by today's vote."

Since Mayfield lost a year of eligibility while sitting out the 2014 season in the Big 12, he could receive a waiver to transfer and play at a school in another conference as a graduate transfer in 2017 if he doesn't choose to go to the NFL.

In a lengthy statement posted on his Twitter account, Mayfield made it seem like 2016 will be his final year.

"Now going in to my final year, I plan (on) making it my best one yet," Mayfield said. "I plan on using every lesson I have learned to keep pushing myself and my team. I plan on staying open to learning even more so I can keep getting better and growing. This next year/season I do not know what all I will learn, but I am excited to do so."

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said opposition to the rule was for recruiting reasons. Heaven forbid a player get rewarded with a scholarship at another school (Mayfield was a walk-on at Texas Tech).

Bowlsby also said it was fair to wonder about the legitimacy of any requests by Baylor signees to get out of their letters of intent after the chaos at the school.

Texas athletic director Mike Perrin thinks its prudent if the Big 12 doesn't expand.

But a final decision may not come for a while.

Or an even longer while.

In non-Big 12 news, CBS announced matchups for some of its SEC broadcasts.

And finally, Tennessee's old Adidas uniforms have found a new home. In Israel. The school recently switched from Adidas to Tennessee.