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 Saulbadguy:
On a serious note, are the Big 12's academic requirements that much more strict than the Big East? I find that hard to believe.
Yes, the Big East has very low across-the-board requirements. USF is another benefactor of the Big East's low football admission standards. They have taken a ton of Florida kids that could not get in at UF. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Yes, the Big East has very low across-the-board requirements. USF is another benefactor of the Big East's low football admission standards. They have taken a ton of Florida kids that could not get in at UF.
I've seen some of the mental midgets K-State and KU bring in. It couldn't be much worse. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
Gotta fly to Charleston to get to Morgantown, IIRC.
I drove to Huntington, WV to see Marshall - KSU. Never again.
There is an airport in Morgantown, only United flies there. But yes, It would be difficult travel even for fan bases that do travel well.
I think the SEC might have a positive effect on travel. I know Missouri for whatever reason does not travel well traditionally, but perhaps the prospect of seeing your team play at one of these storied programs would interest people.
Like others have said, WV has found a sweet spot in a conference with low admissions standards and conducive to piling up good records in football, and they had a great coach. The right next step for them is to try to move up. But it definitely remains to be seen if they could duplicate this success in an academically better conference.
I think they would be a good replacement for Missouri because it would persevere about the same football respectability for the Big 12. There are no Nebraksas out there, so its still down, but this would help keep things alive. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
Judging by your posts, you stopped paying attention shortly thereafter. WVU's program has been in decline without Richrod.
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
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.
1. Mizzou beat OU last year, but could they do it consistently? Just because WVU beat OU in a bowl game does not mean that year in and year out they beat OU if they played in the same conference. Especially if they couldn't get some of the players they currently get because they would be academically unqualified in the Big XII. Boise also beat OU in a bowl game. Could they do it consistently in the Big XII?
2. Put Mizzou in the BE and see how many BCS bowl appearances or BCS wins they have. Again they probably would have beaten VT the year KU did had they played them. They did not get that bowl because of their inability to (again) beat OU. They would have had another BCS bowl bid last year had they been in the BE, instead it went to a crappy UCONN team. Would they have won? Who knows. Heck Boise beat OU when no one thought they could. I am not saying Mizzou is on the level of an Alabama, Florida, or USC but I would put them at the same level as WVU. Conference affiliation has alot to do with the two schools bowl appearances and success.
3. On the BBall front, good point and I stand corrected. [Reply]
