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.
Report: Mizzou moves closer to SEC bid
ESPN.com news services
The New York Times is reporting Missouri's decision to officially apply for membership in the Southeastern Conference is "inevitable and imminent."
The newspaper, citing an official familiar with school decisions involving conference affiliation, reported Monday night that Mizzou officials expect to get enough votes among SEC presidents to become a member, although the school would still need to be formally invited to join the conference.
Missouri curators, who must approve any change in conference alignment, are scheduled to next meet at the University of Missouri, Kansas City on Oct. 20-21.
While interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas said last week he expects Mizzou to stay in the league and SEC commissioner Mike Slive has said the conference has no immediate expansion plans, The Times reported the Tigers could join the SEC as early as next year.
SEC presidents voted to accept Texas A&M as the league's 13th member in September and several SEC athletic directors have suggested that adding a 14th team to balance league schedules is inevitable.
Mizzou curators agreed unanimously earlier this month to give Chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to look elsewhere rather than immediately commit to the Big 12. A 45-page document presented to curators suggests the school would hope to get as much as $12 million more each year in additional revenue with a move to the SEC if TV deals are renegotiated.
The document, which was obtained by The Associated Press, states Missouri would not suffer a dramatic loss in academic prestige with an SEC move. The SEC has three other members of the prestigious Association of American Universities: Florida, soon-to-arrive Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, the same number as the Big 12 now has, excluding Missouri.
TCU accepted an invitation last week to join the Big 12. The Horned Frogs will replace the Aggies, keeping the league at 10 members when the Aggies leave for the SEC next July.
While TCU will be the first new member since the Big 12 started play in 1996, Texas A&M will be the third school to leave. Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12) left this year.
A source with direct knowledge of the Big 12's expansion committee told ESPN.com's Andy Katz Monday that the Big 12 still has to decide if Missouri goes to the SEC if it wants to go to 10 or 12 members. The source said Louisville and West Virginia are two of the top candidates to replace a possible Missouri departure.
While Missouri is a charter member of the Big 12, founded in 1996 when the Big Eight schools added four members of the defunct Southwest Conference, dissatisfaction with the conference has grown. In the early '90s, with the Big Eight on the verge of collapse, Missouri pushed to join the Big Ten and a group of state business leaders even formed a lobbying group.
Asked at a news conference last week about the potential costs of a league departure -- hours before curators discussed the financial document -- Deaton demurred.
"We're really just beginning the exploration of our options, and those figures will become very clear during that process," he said. "At this time we've made no decision (to leave). That's a bit of a hypothetical."
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz was used in this report. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
We've always hated Missouri. Never needed a reason.
That's cool. I don't know any MU fans who hate the Eco Kats. Actually, I'm not aware of any KU fans who hate them, either. I've always thought of KSU like I think of the Chargers. They just don't evoke a strong reaction from me either way, even when they've had pockets of success that didn't amount to anything. The Cats will wind up in the MWC, and the Chargers will wind up in LA. I'll wish them both well, but I won't lose any sleep over it either way. [Reply]
I like Frank Martin. KSU football games are weird...I have no idea but they were always boring. Mizzou loses...game is close...Mizzou wins big. Didn't matter...it was generally boring. [Reply]
