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.
Big 12 should just replace Mizzou with West Virginia or Louisville and stay at 10 teams. The round robin format is more interesting and provides more national respect for the teams that would be in a North division. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Big 12 should just replace Mizzou with West Virginia or Louisville and stay at 10 teams. The round robin format is more interesting and provides more national respect for the teams that would be in a North division.
Looks like you're being about as productive as me today between CP and PM. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Big 12 should just replace Mizzou with West Virginia or Louisville and stay at 10 teams. The round robin format is more interesting and provides more national respect for the teams that would be in a North division.
I'd much rather have West Virginia than Louisville. Athletically they are superior to both Mizzou and Louisville.
Louisville wouldn't be a bad consolation prize I suppose. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
I'd much rather have West Virginia than Louisville. Athletically they are superior to both Mizzou and Louisville.
Louisville wouldn't be a bad consolation prize I suppose.
Superior is hyperbole; WVU is probably even with Mizzou in terms of overall football and basketball, with most of their football success under Rich Rodriguez. They've made a killing recruiting kids in SEC country that couldn't qualify at other schools, so it will be interesting to see how they do in the Big 12 with stiffer academic requirements. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Superior is hyperbole; WVU is probably even with Mizzou in terms of overall football and basketball, with most of their football success under Rich Rodriguez. They've made a killing recruiting kids in SEC country that couldn't qualify at other schools, so it will be interesting to see how they do in the Big 12 with stiffer academic requirements.
I also disagree that WVU is "superior" to Mizzou in football and basketball. Their football success has come from getting kids that don't qualify at other schools as you have stated, but also they have benefitted from playing in a weaker BE at least from a football standpoint. Mizzou has been a consistent 10 win team playing in the Big XII which was arguably the second toughest football conference. Had they played in the BE (like WVU) or the WAC/MWC (like Boise State), they too would have played in big money BCS games. They were good enough to play in BCS games in previous years, the problem was they never made it to them due to their inability to beat OU and UT. Now put Boise, WVU, UCONN, or TCU in the Big XII over the last 10 years or so and see how many BCS games they play in and put Mizzou in an AQ conference like the BE and see how many Mizzou has. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HemiEd:
I agree, WV would be an upgrade for the Big 12.
They would. I would like to see WVU, UoL (as a travel partner for WVU and for their strong BBall team) and one other come in to replace Mizzou if they leave and bring the conference back to 12. They can then do something like how the SEC does it with a permanent cross conference rival game. There is too much money in a Big XII Championship game not to go to 12. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tredadda:
I also disagree that WVU is "superior" to Mizzou in football and basketball. Their football success has come from getting kids that don't qualify at other schools as you have stated, but also they have benefitted from playing in a weaker BE at least from a football standpoint. Mizzou has been a consistent 10 win team playing in the Big XII which was arguably the second toughest football conference. Had they played in the BE (like WVU) or the WAC/MWC (like Boise State), they too would have played in big money BCS games. They were good enough to play in BCS games in previous years, the problem was they never made it to them due to their inability to beat OU and UT. Now put Boise, WVU, UCONN, or TCU in the Big XII over the last 10 years or so and see how many BCS games they play in and put Mizzou in an AQ conference like the BE and see how many Mizzou has.
West Virginia destroyed Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. :-)
They have 2 BCS bowl victories and a Final Four appearance in recent history.
But yeah, I could see how they are "even" with Mizzou. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tredadda:
Mizzou has been a consistent 10 win team playing in the Big XII
Yeah, five 9+ win seasons in the history of the program (including 1960 and 1969).
And as stated by someone else last week, they're a consistent top-25 team in FB and BB, even though both programs combined have finished a season in the top 25 only 5 times in the last 10 years. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Yeah, five 9+ win seasons in the history of the program (including 1960 and 1969).
And as stated by someone else last week, they're a consistent top-25 team in FB and BB, even though both programs combined have finished a season in the top 25 only 5 times in the last 10 years.
