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.
I am from Springfield originally, and as much I have a special place in my heart for SMS.....I would have to be high on several forms of crack to think they would be worthy of a BIG XII invite.
Why was Doug Gottlieb slamming Mizzou? His main area is bball, and I think Mizzou would be very competitive in SEC bball. That does not make sense. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kstater:
And. Yet. You. Keep. Listening.
Actually no, his moaning has got old as of late on this issue, but I see on here people mentioning that he is still moaning about it and coming up with new ideas. [Reply]
Football no way in hell could Missouri State could compete but the other sports would be okay in the Big 12. Mizzou would be pissed as hell with more competion in state with a BCS tag, but politically Nixon and the boys would be tickled pink. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ReeTodd_KC:
So when will MU annouce they are heading to the SEC?
The SEC puts a halt on expansion
October, 10, 2011
OCT 10 5:15 PM ET
By Edward Aschoff
Everyone expects the SEC to eventually expand to 14 schools, but that time doesn't appear to be now.
SEC presidents and chancellors met Monday for their fall meeting, but no expansion action was taken and we don't know when it will.
“The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference met on Monday for its regularly-scheduled fall meeting," the league said in a statement. "While they discussed a wide range of issues dealing with the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, no actions were taken with regards to expansion.”
This comes after even more speculation arose after Missouri curators gave chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to explore a move to another conference rather than immediately commit to the Big 12. Word quickly spread that Missouri had real interest in joining the SEC, but only after the Big Ten showed no interest in the school.
Last week, The Birmingham News reported that a majority of SEC presidents and chancellors would support Missouri's application, but that majority falls short of the nine votes required to add a new member.
While the SEC says it isn't taking steps toward growing at the moment, don't expect that sort of talk to quell any of the expansion chatter. Even after the SEC officially announced Texas A&M as its 13th member, all the talk surrounded what school was going to be the 14th team and if there was a possibility of three more joining. It seems as if Texas A&M is a mere afterthought at this point.
Missouri's name will continue to come up, as the St. Louis and Kansas City markets figure to be attractive to the SEC and so does the school's AAU membership. Remember, this isn't just about football. There are a lot of other factors that go into expansion other than football games.
Don't be surprised if West Virginia continues to come up again. Maybe Louisville will get thrown into the mix. And don't count the Virginia Tech and Florida State talk either.
It should be fun with all the speculation and rumors sure to come. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Laz:
The SEC puts a halt on expansion
October, 10, 2011
OCT 10 5:15 PM ET
By Edward Aschoff
Everyone expects the SEC to eventually expand to 14 schools, but that time doesn't appear to be now.
SEC presidents and chancellors met Monday for their fall meeting, but no expansion action was taken and we don't know when it will.
“The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference met on Monday for its regularly-scheduled fall meeting," the league said in a statement. "While they discussed a wide range of issues dealing with the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, no actions were taken with regards to expansion.”
This comes after even more speculation arose after Missouri curators gave chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to explore a move to another conference rather than immediately commit to the Big 12. Word quickly spread that Missouri had real interest in joining the SEC, but only after the Big Ten showed no interest in the school.
Last week, The Birmingham News reported that a majority of SEC presidents and chancellors would support Missouri's application, but that majority falls short of the nine votes required to add a new member.
While the SEC says it isn't taking steps toward growing at the moment, don't expect that sort of talk to quell any of the expansion chatter. Even after the SEC officially announced Texas A&M as its 13th member, all the talk surrounded what school was going to be the 14th team and if there was a possibility of three more joining. It seems as if Texas A&M is a mere afterthought at this point.
Missouri's name will continue to come up, as the St. Louis and Kansas City markets figure to be attractive to the SEC and so does the school's AAU membership. Remember, this isn't just about football. There are a lot of other factors that go into expansion other than football games.
Don't be surprised if West Virginia continues to come up again. Maybe Louisville will get thrown into the mix. And don't count the Virginia Tech and Florida State talk either.
It should be fun with all the speculation and rumors sure to come.
Missouri isn't doing themselves any favors by playing like absolute dogshit right now. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP:
That would piss off USF and make me LOL.
I don't have the hatred for USF that most UCF folks do. When I was there USF wasn't really worth a shit. I hope UCF does get this invite though... will be great to see them on TV a lot. [Reply]
