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 :
One of the first items on the Big 12's agenda after ousting Dan Beebe as commissioner was agreeing to equally share revenue from the conference's major TV rights, a Pac-12 and Big Ten-like deal supplanting one that had rewarded schools based on appearances.
It was a "bittersweet" development for Beebe, who said in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN.com that it was something he attempted two years ago.
But the Nebraska Cornhuskers stood in the way, he said.
"It could have kept all 12 together,'' Beebe said Saturday, nearly three weeks after his contract was bought out by the Big 12 board of directors on Sept. 22. "I proposed it two years ago when Nebraska and Colorado were in the league as we prepared for our television negotiations we did last spring.''
Beebe said none of the Big 12's recent defections had to occur.
"I asked for them to consider it,'' Beebe said of the revenue-sharing pact. "Nebraska was one of the biggest objectors of equal revenue rights, and their president Harvey Perlman said that. We could have done this two years ago and none of this would have happened.''
Wow. Thanks for bailing the big 12 administration out of a dumb decision, I don't think anyone would have been excited about Air Force.
Originally Posted by :
"We were approached by the Big 12, and I told them we're not a good fit for that conference. In the Big 12, geography makes sense, the economics make sense, but recruiting makes no sense for us. I can't recruit against Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State," Mueh said.
"That's why I turned down the Big 12. I can't do that to my kids, because they'll get beat up. I'd love the extra $12 million or whatever it would be per year from the TV money. And I know how I'd spend the money. I'd build a new soccer stadium, and I'd build a new baseball facility, all in one year. But I can't do that."
He'd better hope WVU and Louisville don't go anywhere, or this will end up being a pretty dumb move. [Reply]
Air Force snubbed the Big XII? Seriously? I can't wait for Tulane to look down their noses at the Big XII and give a curt snort and turn down their offer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Reaper16:
Air Force snubbed the Big XII? Seriously? I can't wait for Tulane to look down their noses at the Big XII and give a curt snort and turn down their offer.
If you read the article, it wasn't that Air Force "snubbed" the Big 12, but rather they were frightened of UT, OU, and Okie State. [Reply]
Originally Posted by alnorth:
If you read the article, it wasn't that Air Force "snubbed" the Big 12, but rather they were frightened of UT, OU, and Okie State.
I really just wanted to make a Tulane joke.
Though it is comforting that a branch of our nation's military is less fearful of foreign nations than they are the formidable city-states of Stillwater and Norman. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Reaper16:
Air Force snubbed the Big XII? Seriously? I can't wait for Tulane to look down their noses at the Big XII and give a curt snort and turn down their offer.
WTF? Why on earth would the Big 12 offer Air Force and not Louisville? Jesus Christ. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk:
Seriously people read the article. They were not extended an offer. They were contacted. This is a huge difference.
yep, I think we (including me) jumped the gun here. More than likely this was an initial "hey, are you at all interested or is there no point talking?" Air Force is probably well down the list. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
The fact that the Big XII was even asking Air Force if it would be interested says something about how the conference has fallen.
Yea, it sure doesn't look good on the Big XII. (This is coming from a Mizzou fan who is very speculative of us going to the SEC). [Reply]