Stoops hopes Big 12 reconsiders Mayfield's eligibility

Baker Mayfield's quest to regain his fifth year of eligibility hit a roadblock, but apparently not a dead end.

After the Big 12 voted against changing a rule that forces walk-on players transferring within the conference to lose a year of eligibility, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he hopes his quarterback's case receives another look.

"I'm incredibly disappointed the rule change proposal wasn't passed today at Big 12 meetings," Stoops said Wednesday night, according to Chuck Carlton of The Dallas Morning News. "I hope the conference will reconsider its decision and put the welfare of student-athletes first."

Mayfield, who's heading into his fourth year in the NCAA, sat out the 2014 season after transferring to the Sooners from Texas Tech. Mayfield argued that because he wasn't on scholarship at Texas Tech, nor did he receive one when he transferred to Oklahoma, that he should've been able to redshirt his transfer year.

The Big 12's denial means the 2016 season will most likely be Mayfield's last in Norman. He'll still be able to play a fifth season in the NCAA, though, as the pivot will be eligible to play at a school in a rival conference as a graduate transfer.

Days before the vote, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby suggested it might be in the conference's best interests to have Mayfield play his fifth season in its own conference, rather than someone else's.

Mayfield, one of the top passers in the country, responded to the decision in a lengthy post on Twitter.