Anyways, Chip Brown from Orangebloods.com reports OU may apply to the Pac-12 by the end of the month.
Oklahoma will apply for membership to the Pac-12 before the end of the month, and Oklahoma State is expected to follow suit, a source close to OU's administration told Orangebloods.com.
Even though Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said Friday the Pac-12 was not interested in expansion at this time, OU's board of regents is fed up with the instability in the Big 12, the source said.
The OU board of regents will meet within two weeks to formalize plans to apply for membership to the Pac-12, the source said.
Messages left Sunday night with OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder were not immediately returned.
If OU follows through with what appears to be a unanimous sentiment on the seven-member Oklahoma board of regents to leave the Big 12, realignment in college athletics could be heating back up. OU's application would be matched by an application from Oklahoma State, the source said, even though OSU president Burns Hargis and mega-booster Boone Pickens both voiced their support for the Big 12 last Thursday.
There is differing sentiment about if the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors are ready to expand again after bringing in Colorado and Utah last year and landing $3 billion TV contracts from Fox and ESPN. Colorado president Bruce Benson told reporters last week CU would be opposed to any expansion that might bring about east and west divisions in the Pac-12.
Currently, there are north and south divisions in the Pac-12. If OU and OSU were to join, Larry Scott would have to get creative.
Scott's orginal plan last summer was to bring in Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and put them in an eastern division with Arizona and Arizona State. The old Pac-8 schools (USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State) were to be in the west division.
Colorado made the move in June 2010, but when Texas A&M was not on board to go west, the Big 12 came back together with the help of its television partners (ABC/ESPN and Fox).
If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were accepted into the Pac-12, there would undoubtedly be a hope by Larry Scott that Texas would join the league. But Texas sources have indicated UT is determined to hang onto the Longhorn Network, which would not be permissible in the Pac-12 in its current form.
Texas sources continue to indicate to Orangebloods.com that if the Big 12 falls apart, the Longhorns would consider "all options."
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe held an emergency conference call 10 days ago with league presidents excluding Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M and asked the other league presidents to "work on Texas" because Beebe didn't think the Pac-12 would take Oklahoma without Texas.
Now, it appears OU is willing to take its chances with the Pac-12 with or without Texas.
There seemed to be a temporary pause in any possible shifting of the college athletics' landscape when Baylor led a charge to tie up Texas A&M's move to the Southeastern Conference in legal red tape. BU refused to waive its right to sue the SEC over A&M's departure from the Big 12, and the SEC said it would not admit Texas A&M until it had been cleared of any potential lawsuits.
Baylor, Kansas and Iowa State have indicated they will not waive their right to sue the SEC.
It's unclear if an application by OU to the Pac-12 would draw the same threats of litigation against the Pac-12 from those Big 12 schools.
Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade:
Why can't we have a mature conversation about this? Has anything I have discussed with you really been a pout? What is it about sport's fans mentalities that unless you reduce someone else to a cartoon of their position, you can't make a thoughtful point? I thought we were having a decent conversation until this point.
I am using your posts to create a parody of you where you act dumb and don't understand why Missouri would go while making these ridiculous arguments for how the Big 12 is really the place to be.
Your rationalizations always end up with B12 as a happy family because if that isn't the case then your Jayhawks are in a world they don't want to be in.
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
I am using your posts to create a parody of you where you act dumb and don't understand why Missouri would go while making these ridiculous arguments for how the Big 12 is really the place to be.
Your rationalizations always end up with B12 as a happy family because if that isn't the case then your Jayhawks are in a world they don't want to be in.
I think the satire fits.
Alright, then I'll quit pretending like you have a worthwhile position. I never said Missouri shouldn't go. I only wanted someone to articulate to me why they think they have to. It is obvious to me, it isn't a specific. Its just a general inadequacy about being in the same conference as Texas. There is no real "recruiting advantage" that wasn't already there. Its just envy and you are willing to whore yourself out to a conference who just wants you for your TV markets. And, once they possess them, will send you back to the outskirts of the conference to commiserate with Arkansas, tell you not speak unless spoken to, and to fix them a turkey pot pie on your way back. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade:
Alright, then I'll quit pretending like you have a worthwhile position. I never said Missouri shouldn't go. I only wanted someone to articulate to me why they think they have to. It is obvious to me, it isn't a specific. Its just a general inadequacy about being in the same conference as Texas. There is no real "recruiting advantage" that wasn't already there. Its just envy and you are willing to whore yourself out to a conference who just wants you for your TV markets. And, once they possess them, will send you back to the outskirts of the conference to commiserate with Arkansas, tell you not speak unless spoken to, and to fix them a turkey pot pie on your way back.
We grow very tired of a conference that is shallow now. OU and UT will bolt at the first oportunity of grabbing a larger payday. MU, for once has the opportunity to get away from what is truly the University of Texas conference.
My question to you...why won't you just accept that if KU had the same opportunity that MU does right now, they would jump all over it with both feet. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade:
Frustrated, not really mad. You're the one that decided to turn a conversation into a satire.
I think it is a great way to get a point across.
Also if you want to act like nobody here has talked about the benefits of Missouri going to the SEC then you are either playing dumb or seeing what you want to see. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
My question to you...why won't you just accept that if KU had the same opportunity that MU does right now, they would jump all over it with both feet.
As a KU fan, I would hope to God they would get out while the gettin' was good. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
HH...it's very simple.
We grow very tired of a conference that is shallow now. OU and UT will bolt at the first oportunity of grabbing a larger payday. MU, for once has the opportunity to get away from what is truly the University of Texas conference.
My question to you...why won't you just accept that if KU had the same opportunity that MU does right now, they would jump all over it with both feet.
Well, as everyone has pointed out, UT has kind of painted themselves into a corner with their Longhorn Network, so there really isn't a larger payday for them unless they get rid of the LHN, which it should be obvious, they are not. OU could have easily gotten in front of you to the SEC, but they aren't really interested in the SEC (and they don't even have an AAU status). So, they aren't going anywhere either.
No, I don't think KU would go to the SEC even if they had the opportunity. They might go to the ACC or the PAC, and they would probably go to the B1G. But, if they could stay in the Big XII, get paid well, and not have to break up their regional rivalries, I think only the B1G would cause them to jump. We don't fit SEC culture.
I have never said MU didn't have more opportunities than KU, for a number of reasons, so my points are not really motivated from there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
I think it is a great way to get a point across.
Also if you want to act like nobody here has talked about the benefits of Missouri going to the SEC then you are either playing dumb or seeing what you want to see.
Well, I have read this thread and lots of the older thread and the articles in the KCStar. But, please, point me to the post or story that really outlines it. I could understand the B1G. The opportunities and cultural fit there would be outstanding. The SEC... I really don't get that quite as much. It seems like a negotiation ploy to me, which I could understand from the university perspective. If you have leverage, attempt to use it. I don't understand the fan reasoning.
By the way, the best way to get a point across to actually make a great point. When you have to resort to belittling humor, its usually viewed as a crutch to support a weak position. [Reply]
