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 mnchiefsguy:
You have to be the biggest idiot on the board. It was Miami of Ohio, and even with that, the stadium is far from empty.
I would also point out that the emptiest section of that stadium setup is the area that is part of the 5,000 allotment that is reserved for visiting fans/open seating each week. And yes, as someone pointed out, when you have a student section that is strong, the students just outside it tend to crowd down further into the section.
Also, the 71k seating capacity includes 4000 or so "blanket room-only" seats on the North lawn. Actual "seated" capacity is a few seats over 67,000.
Attendance for teh Western Illinois was actually quite amazing. 60k plus for an FCS school. Much different than when I was in school... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pants:
Get up for a game now and again? You make it sound like it was some kind of challenge to beat MU in the past years. :-)
MU's program has been on a a slow upswing since Pinkel took over, but don't act like it's some kind of a powerhouse program.
Powerhouse? I agree. Not there. However only a handful of teams in the game have won 40 games in 40 years and even bigger talent is coming into Columbia. I think a lot of the confidence is based on the consistent nature of success and trying to be put in a position to have greater success. Kids that play at the University of Missouri are all over the NFL doing good work. They haven't been able to completely put the pieces together for one season but they remain in a position of success based on a program not this or that great player. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Powerhouse? I agree. Not there. However only a handful of teams in the game have won 40 games in 40 years and even bigger talent is coming into Columbia. I think a lot of the confidence is based on the consistent nature of success and trying to be put in a position to have greater success. Kids that play at the University of Missouri are all over the NFL doing good work. They haven't been able to completely put the pieces together for one season but they remain in a position of success based on a program not this or that great player.
I was talking more about the past when Bowser brought up KU "getting up" for a challenge from time to time and managing to beat MU. It wasn't that big of a feat back then. You guys are obviously much better now compared to even as recently as when I went to school. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
SEC teams made $18.5MM in tier 1 and 2 football revenue last year, and the Big 12 will make around $14MM with the new deal.
Of course this assumes that the SEC only gets equal payouts for A&M and Mizzou instead of renegotiating the entire contracts like Slive has said they have the legal power to do.
The estimated next Tier 1 TV contract for the Big XII with aTm and MU as part of the equation was expected to be in the $350 million range. That contract is going to be negotiated in three years, or so I've heard. Of course, that number will change without aTm and MU in the mix. If MU leaves and the Big XII adds BYU and TCU, or some combination of worthy additions it might not be far off.
The reason against 16-team leagues is dilution of TV money. The bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of the league is a drain on resources. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Powerhouse? I agree. Not there. However only a handful of teams in the game have won 40 games in 40 years and even bigger talent is coming into Columbia..
I'm pretty sure that the Jayhawks have won 40 games in 40 years... we average AT LEAST one win a year. :-) [Reply]
ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri hopes to join the Southeastern Conference but would have preferred an offer from the Big Ten that never came, a school official told The Associated Press.
The person, who is familiar with the discussions involving conference affiliation, spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the school has not commented publicly about its intentions.
Missouri hoped to join the Big Ten last year but the league instead chose Nebraska. The university official said the Big Ten remains Missouri's top choice but that conference "has no interest."
"That's what's left," the official said, referring to the SEC.
Missouri's seven voting curators agreed unanimously Tuesday night to give chancellor Brady Deaton authority to look elsewhere rather than immediately commit to the troubled Big 12 Conference.
Just one day earlier, Big 12 leaders -- including Deaton -- agreed to equally share the wealth from the conference's most lucrative television deals if members agree to lock those top-tier TV rights into the league for at least six years.
The agreement is subject to approval by university governing boards -- a step Missouri curators don't want to take until the school is able to "fully explore options for conference affiliation ... which best serve the interests of the University of Missouri," board chairman Warren Erdman told The Associated Press.
The Big 12 is down to 10 members and will lose Texas A&M to the SEC next year after the departures of Colorado to the Pac-12 and Nebraska to the Big Ten.
The SEC members' athletic directors and commissioner Mike Slive met Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., to discuss the logistics of Texas A&M's arrival. A conference spokesman said the meeting was called several weeks ago.
A possible addition of Missouri was not on the agenda, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
Slive has not ruled out further expansion, and Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart has said the SEC will eventually add members.
Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said Tuesday the conference is in a wait-and-see mode on further expansion.
"The commissioner has done such a great job of positioning us and we continue just to kind of look for his guidance and for him to lead us in whatever direction we decide on," Stricklin said. "When he says, 'Hey, here's an idea,' we're going to listen to him. Until then, I think we are all very comfortable with where we are at 13 for the time being."
But South Carolina president Harris Pastides has said he doesn't "think 13 is a sustainable number, but I think 14 is." He added that he doesn't advocate growing to a 16-team league.
Besides being a fresh blow to the Big 12, a Missouri departure would threaten its long-standing rivalry with neighboring Kansas, one of the oldest in college sports. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self told the Lawrence Journal-World that the border showdowns may not continue if Missouri bolts.
"I have no ill will toward Missouri at all, but to do something at a time that could be so damaging and hurtful to a group, I can't see us just taking it and forgetting," he told the newspaper.
Kansas athletic director Shannon Zenger was less forceful, appealing instead to the Tigers' sense of loyalty to the league.
"We believe the Midwest deserves a strong conference for student-athletes, fans and alumni, and it is our desire that Missouri will stay committed -- as Kansas is -- to the Big 12 Conference," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Stewie:
The estimated next Tier 1 TV contract for the Big XII with aTm and MU as part of the equation was expected to be in the $350 million range. That contract is going to be negotiated in three years, or so I've heard. Of course, that number will change without aTm and MU in the mix. If MU leaves and the Big XII adds BYU and TCU, or some combination of worthy additions it might not be far off.
The reason against 16-team leagues is dilution of TV money. The bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of the league is a drain on resources.
Just wait until the SEC goes to the table with ESPN with its new lineup. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Stewie:
The estimated next Tier 1 TV contract for the Big XII with aTm and MU as part of the equation was expected to be in the $350 million range. That contract is going to be negotiated in three years, or so I've heard. Of course, that number will change without aTm and MU in the mix. If MU leaves and the Big XII adds BYU and TCU, or some combination of worthy additions it might not be far off.
The reason against 16-team leagues is dilution of TV money. The bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of the league is a drain on resources.
And the new SEC tv contracts are expected to blow the doors off anything out there right now - you know, the conference that has won five straight NC's and wins the national ratings every week - but I figured it would be more fair to deal with the current contracts. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
And the new SEC tv contracts are expected to blow the doors off anything out there right now - you know, the conference that has won five straight NC's and wins the national ratings every week - but I figured it would be more fair to deal with the current contracts.
The conference that just got a foot hold in Texas and the Missouri markets by taking 2 of the top 4 most valuable teams in the B12. [Reply]
