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 OnTheWarpath58:
I'll be on the UMSL campus today at 4:00 during the Curator's meeting - any Mizzou fans have a message they want passed along?
Yeah, write the words "Don't fuck this up, douchebags" on a rag stuffed in a glass bottle of petrol. Light said rag and throw it into the meeting. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
WVU's goldandbluezone is reporting on twitter that WVU is in regardless of what Mizzou does. Could that mean the SEC is going to go ahead and go for 16 teams? Who would #16 be? I don't see it, but if both Mizzou and WVU, I don't see how the SEC would stay at 15.
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
WVU's goldandbluezone is reporting on twitter that WVU is in regardless of what Mizzou does. Could that mean the SEC is going to go ahead and go for 16 teams? Who would #16 be? I don't see it, but if both Mizzou and WVU, I don't see how the SEC would stay at 15.
I think it's crazy to go to 16 at this point vs 14. Why share that revenue when they are not forced to? [Reply]
Not sure I buy it either, but they seem pretty confident about it. Not sure how reliable they are, or if they are as tied into the inner workings of WVU like they claim to be or not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by vailpass:
Would the SEC stand to realize enough of an increase in revenue by switching to a 16 team conference to justify splitting the pot 16 ways?
Probably.
The new contract is going to be ridiculous. What they may do, though, is expand to 14 teams & renegotiate. Then wait a few years, expand to 16, and renegotiate again.
If they expand to 16 I could see them moving more towards adding NC State/Va Tech/Ga Tech/Clemson.. those types of schools, not WVU. [Reply]
The new contract is going to be ridiculous. What they may do, though, is expand to 14 teams & renegotiate. Then wait a few years, expand to 16, and renegotiate again.
If they expand to 16 I could see them moving more towards adding NC State/Va Tech/Ga Tech/Clemson.. those types of schools, not WVU.
Thought I read SEC isn't up for a new deal for a few more years yet?
Are you saying everything I read on teh intrawebz isn't true?
Or if SEC expands does that mean they can renegotiate? [Reply]
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
Not sure I buy it either, but they seem pretty confident about it. Not sure how reliable they are, or if they are as tied into the inner workings of WVU like they claim to be or not.
They do seem to have a guy or two who is connected. During the Huggins to WVU drama, they had a guy who I swear was so in touch with the up to minute goings on, it seemed like he was on the plane that landed in Manhattan to pick Huggs up. [Reply]
Originally Posted by vailpass:
Thought I read SEC isn't up for a new deal for a few more years yet?
Are you saying everything I read on teh intrawebz isn't true?
Or if SEC expands does that mean they can renegotiate?
Originally Posted by vailpass:
Thought I read SEC isn't up for a new deal for a few more years yet?
Are you saying everything I read on teh intrawebz isn't true?
Or if SEC expands does that mean they can renegotiate?
Logic would tell you that they are not just expanding to have more mouths to feed.
Slive has already hinted that the contracts have look-in provisions that will allow for renegotiation with new teams.
Another possibility would be banding the tier 3 rights into a network, and dangling that as a carrot to ESPN or CBS if they renegotiate their Tier 1 or 2 deal. [Reply]
Gabe just said on an interview that Alden received over 900 emails in one day regarding the conference realignment issue, with over 90% of them in favor of going to the SEC.
He said Gary Pinkel and the fanbase are the big drivers of the move.
