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 eazyb81:
@sptwri Mike DeArmond
I'm told Deaton and MU are playing hard ball over changes they want made. Doesn't mean MU staying or not. But MU is not playing pattycake.
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Jesus HH, what is the point of you shitting all over this thread? Anyone with a functioning brain understands the allure of the SEC. It is the premier athletic conference in the country with unprecedented revenue upside. Continuing to play devil's advocate in this thread just makes you look clueless and devalues your opinion.
Scared Beaker - nothing more, nothing less.
They really out themselves quickly, don't they? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
No offense, but MU demanding anything is laughable. I'd like them to stay in the conference but their demands should only be met if reasonable.
My guess would be that every single 'demand' they make would be one that K-State or KU would make as well if they had the capital to make them.
It's not like they're going to demand to be allowed to play all conference games at home or to get Nebraska's % cut of the revenue. They're essentially going to demand stuff that would make us more in line w/ the B1G and hopefully address the LHN.
You fellas should probably be rooting for them at this point.
EDIT:
Originally Posted by patteeu:
Whatever demands they're making are most likely demands K-State would like to be making if only they had the leverage to do so. Mizzou doesn't have a ton of leverage, but they have some. Mizzou's retention is attractive to Texas for the same reasons Mizzou's acquisition would be to the SEC.
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
No offense, but MU demanding anything is laughable. I'd like them to stay in the conference but their demands should only be met if reasonable.
Missouri has the two largest media markets in the conference footprint outside of the state of Texas. Mizzou has a lot of leverage. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
K-State or KU demanding anything would also be laughable.
Missouri "has the two largest media markets" just as much as Illinois has a stranglehold on Chicago, or Rutgers does with New York City.
Missouri has 6 million residents and 1 major university. Its not a Rutgers situation. People who live in Overland Park seem to think that KC is a Jayhawks town, but it isn't.
I took my kid to Worlds of Fun yesterday, and close to 10% of the people there were wearing Tigers gear. I might have seen two or three each of Jayhawks, Wildcats, and Huskers. I'll bet I saw over 100 people in Mizzou gear. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
Missouri has 6 million residents and 1 major university. Its not a Rutgers situation. People who live in Overland Park seem to think that KC is a Jayhawks town, but it isn't.
I took my kid to Worlds of Fun yesterday, and close to 10% of the people there were wearing Tigers gear. I might have seen two or three each of Jayhawks, Wildcats, and Huskers. I'll bet I saw over 100 people in Mizzou gear.
Well that would sum up why you saw alot of MU gear... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
I took my kid to Worlds of Fun yesterday, and close to 10% of the people there were wearing Tigers gear. I might have seen two or three each of Jayhawks, Wildcats, and Huskers. I'll bet I saw over 100 people in Mizzou gear.
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
I took my kid to Worlds of Fun yesterday, and close to 10% of the people there were wearing Tigers gear. I might have seen two or three each of Jayhawks, Wildcats, and Huskers. I'll bet I saw over 100 people in Mizzou gear.
If that's what you saw at Worlds of Fun, then it must be true. :-) [Reply]
The KC Star thinks Kansas City is a KU town. They also prove that K-State fans are younger, richer, better looking, and less bandwagon-y than both fanbases.
