Big 12 has stood at the edge of conference expansion for months, but league officials have decided not to add any new members.

“We decided after very thorough discussion that we would remain at 10 members,” said Oklahoma president David Boren, who is the chair of the league’s board of directors. “We committed ourselves to that proposition and to each other.

“I would describe it as very thoughtful and candid meeting and showed a great deal of unity and strength in the conference.”

Boren said the decision was unanimous.

The league’s board of directors met Monday for more than five hours to consider candidates that included UCF and USF but in the end, officials chose to stand pat. The move was first reported by ESPN, Sports Illustrated and numerous other media outlets.

It’s a disappointing end for many of the schools mentioned as possible expansion targets, with the Knights and Bulls hoping for a boost in revenue and national profile by joining a league that features college football powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma.

Boren said Monday’s meeting didn’t involve discussions on any specific expansion candidates and there wasn’t a vote involved with each school.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he did make a recommendation to the group.

“That we should bring this process to closure one way or another and we shouldn’t kick the can down the road,” he said.

The push for expansion began in 2014 after the Big 12 found itself left out of the inaugural College Football Playoff semifinals despite having one-loss teams in Baylor and TCU available. The league’s lack of conference championship game was seen as detrimental to the Big 12’s chances.

Oklahoma president David Boren took it one step further when in July of 2015 he called the league “psychologically disadvantaged” compared to other autonomous conferences, which featured 14 members and hosted conference title games.

The championship game problem was removed from the table when the NCAA approved a waiver allowing leagues with fewer than 12 members to host a conference title game, providing an additional avenue of revenue and a perceived 13th data point for playoff selection committee members to consider.

The Big 12 announced the creation of a title game starting in 2017-18 back in June.

Talk of expansion dipped a bit, but eventually Big 12 officials grew concerned over the growing financial disparity between itself and the Big Ten and SEC.

Back in mid-July, Big 12 presidents told Bowlsby to begin the process of vetting schools that may be interested in joining the league as new members. As many as 20 schools were among the initial applicants, with that group getting whittled down to less than a dozen.

Some schools that made the cut included UCF, USF and Houston.

Boren said he was impressed by the group of candidates.

“That process has been very thorough and very fair,” he added. “… as I’ve learned while this might not be the right time now to expand and we all came to the unanimous feeling that this was not the right time, all the information generated is not wasted effort. They certainly presented themselves in a very fine light and we appreciate them.”

“Since I arrived at UCF, I have been saying that we can be a nationally competitive, Top 25 athletics program. I still believe that today,” said UCF athletics director Danny White. “Our future success does not depend on our conference affiliation, it is based on our unlimited potential. The American Athletic Conference is a great league and we’re very confident about our future in The American.”

USF president Dr. Judy Genshaft thanked the Big 12 for its interest in the school.

“This process has been extremely positive, giving us the opportunity to showcase our excellence on a national scale,” she said in a statement. “We are a top 25 public research university; our nearly 50,000 students have never been more accomplished. Our athletic program is on a strong trajectory, not only have we led our conference in Learfield Cup standings, but also posting a student-athlete graduation success rate of 86 percent. We have a great story to tell, and this is only the beginning.”

A clause in the conference’s current television contracts with ESPN and Fox guarantee the Big 12 an additional $20 to $25 million in revenue per new school it adds. Sports Illustrated reported last week that sources close to the discussions believe the TV networks could pay the league not to expand in order to ultimately save itself some money.

The Big 12’s current television agreement and grant of rights deal is set to expire in 2024-25.