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 mnchiefsguy:
Nope, but keep that burt hurt coming. I can readily admit Mizzou has never made a final four. I can readily admit that KSU looked very good today destroying KU. You cannot say a good thing about Mizzou to save your life.
Go ahead, prove me wrong. Link me to one good thing you have ever said about Mizzou.
I've never had a problem with Mizzou. One of my best friends is a MU grad, and I have always felt MU fans were pretty decent, balanced folks. But the vast majority of you have become as uppity about this whole conference thing as a KU fan in basketball season. That is distasteful. You want to go, fine. It's great the SEC is interested, but there is no need to rub it in the other school's faces. So as a fanbase, you have lost a lot of respect from me (and a lot of people). But as far as the university goes, I don't have an issue. I do think you owe it to yourselves and the rest of the conference to make an expeditious decision, that's about it.
If you look into my posts, I am quick to point out revisionist history and distortion of facts, regardless of the poster and topic. I will admit to sometimes trolling some of you. I find it a bit funny some of you don't really know how many people your stadium holds, and I've definitely poked a stick over that. [Reply]
Hopefully if Missouri does go to the SEC, they won't live vicariously through the rest of the conference, like most of the other conference members do. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.:
I've never had a problem with Mizzou. One of my best friends is a MU grad, and I have always felt MU fans were pretty decent, balanced folks. But the vast majority of you have become as uppity about this whole conference thing as a KU fan in basketball season. That is distasteful. You want to go, fine. It's great the SEC is interested, but there is no need to rub it in the other school's faces. So as a fanbase, you have lost a lot of respect from me (and a lot of people). But as far as the university goes, I don't have an issue. I do think you owe it to yourselves and the rest of the conference to make an expeditious decision, that's about it.
If you look into my posts, I am quick to point out revisionist history and distortion of facts, regardless of the poster and topic. I will admit to sometimes trolling some of you. I find it a bit funny some of you don't really know how many people your stadium holds, and I've definitely poked a stick over that.
I don't think Mizzou fans have been all the uppiity, given the amount of shit poured on by the KU/KSU/BIG XII community. Most Mizzou fans in this thread are cautious optimistic. We know the road ahead is tough, but have faith and hope that Mizzou's brightest days are ahead. This seems to really bother you and others...you can't stand that Mizzou might just do something great. That is fine and that is your right, but don't expect Mizzou fans to take it lying down. You keep dishing out the shit you call facts, expect to get some response from the Mizzou supporters.
I look at your posts and see nothing but uppity and butt hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Spott:
I never got the whole claiming the whole conference thing like a lot the fans of SEC teams do. It's not like Auburn is going to share their trophy from last year with the other 11 schools in the conference. I will never root for Denver, Oakland and San Diego if they make the playoffs and I sure as hell wouldn't boast about being in the AFC West if any of them won the Super Bowl. If Mizzou goes to the SEC, I'll root against our new rivals in the same manner.
It's far and away the most annoying thing in college sports. They think if one team wins then all 12 teams get a trophy, and they even print and wear conference shirts that say "SEC".
You can't have a real rivalry with someone today and then root for them to win the next day. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kcfan82:
It's far and away the most annoying thing in college sports. They think if one team wins then all 12 teams get a trophy, and they even print and wear conference shirts that say "SEC".
You can't have a real rivalry with someone today and then root for them to win the next day.
This is true. And the conferences encourage it as well. [Reply]
I think the SEC has done a remarkable job of branding itself. If you want to play big time college football, you go to the SEC. Its a huge recruiting advantage to all of the teams. Even the teams who have been doormats in the conference have improved significantly during the SEC's surge to dominance over the last several years. Even teams like Kentucky and Mississippi State have had a lot of recent success. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Spott:
I really only notice it when it comes to football, too. Of course I live in SEC country and they absolutely do not care about college basketball down here. Maybe fans of ACC and Big East teams do the same when UNC, Duke and Uconn win the tournaments too.
As a fan of an ACC school, I can tell you that my happiest day of the year comes when both UNC and Duke are eliminated from the NCAA tournament. [Reply]