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 DeezNutz:
No idea why Mizzou fans would expect (or hope) for forward-thinking leadership from the current administration, as if BD didn't completely embarrass himself during the Anderson hire and Big 10 fiasco.
No way that the SEC doesn't go to 14. Have the gumption to make the move solo.
Seems like move to SEC hinged on B12 imploding. [Reply]
"It was a done deal until things got messy and difficult.* Even Scott, the biggest proponent of the superconferences did not think he could make this work seemlessly.* I just spoke to a well placed Pac Ten official who told me that the expanded league would have been as messy as the Big 12 has been with big egos and the desire for special status.* The presidents who were on board as of last week were turned off by having to compromise to add schools they wanted (OU and UT) and were not thrilled with having to take OSU and TTech.* So instead of humiliating anybody with a rejection, they just decided to stand pat until this thing blows up again in a couple of years.* The Big 12 survives again. For now while the Pac 12 will flourish as 12." [Reply]
"It was a done deal until things got messy and difficult.* Even Scott, the biggest proponent of the superconferences did not think he could make this work seemlessly.* I just spoke to a well placed Pac Ten official who told me that the expanded league would have been as messy as the Big 12 has been with big egos and the desire for special status.* The presidents who were on board as of last week were turned off by having to compromise to add schools they wanted (OU and UT) and were not thrilled with having to take OSU and TTech.* So instead of humiliating anybody with a rejection, they just decided to stand pat until this thing blows up again in a couple of years.* The Big 12 survives again. For now while the Pac 12 will flourish as 12."
Originally Posted by DeezNutz:
And who is the 14th in the SEC?
Hey who knows...not saying Missouri can't or won't be...but I think this is new information...so it is back to the drawing board a bit.
I feel like one huge thing is...nobody wants to be the one to really pull that last jenga block to make the B12 fold. Legally and just for the sake of a lot of bullshit I think people want B12 teams without being blamed for burning the house down.
Say MU were to be invited and leave with Texas and OU and all the other teams staying to keep the B12 going. That can happen without people thinking you wrecked the B12 but then again...that is new...we didn't think about this.
Did you?
I think you are coming down on a varied a constantly changing situation with a ton of assumptions.
How you take all this info and go. "Mizzou was invited to the SEC...they had the golden ticket and said no!" out of all these ups and downs and turns seems kinda silly to me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Hey who knows...not saying Missouri can't or won't be...but I think this is new information...so it is back to the drawing board a bit.
I feel like one huge thing is...nobody wants to be the one to really pull that last jenga block to make the B12 fold. Legally and just for the sake of a lot of bullshit I think people want B12 teams without being blamed for burning the house down.
Say MU were to be invited and leave with Texas and OU and all the other teams staying to keep the B12 going. That can happen without people thinking you wrecked the B12 but then again...that is new...we didn't think about this.
Did you?
I think you are coming down on a varied a constantly changing situation with a ton of assumptions.
How you take all this info and go. "Mizzou was invited to the SEC...they had the golden ticket and said no!" out of all these ups and downs and turns seems kinda silly to me.
Logistically, the Pac-12 would have been problematic for midwest teams, no question.
I don't think it's assumptions, however, to say that BD has been involved in some very damning incidents at Mizzou that cast serious doubt on the level of leadership. [Reply]
"It was a done deal until things got messy and difficult.* Even Scott, the biggest proponent of the superconferences did not think he could make this work seemlessly.* I just spoke to a well placed Pac Ten official who told me that the expanded league would have been as messy as the Big 12 has been with big egos and the desire for special status.* The presidents who were on board as of last week were turned off by having to compromise to add schools they wanted (OU and UT) and were not thrilled with having to take OSU and TTech.* So instead of humiliating anybody with a rejection, they just decided to stand pat until this thing blows up again in a couple of years.* The Big 12 survives again. For now while the Pac 12 will flourish as 12."
This feels right to me.
If OU would have gone to the PAC 12 alone and said "screw OSU, we'd like to apply to your conference, no strings attached. We'll be an equal member, we'll assimilate into the PAC 12 culture and be a team player", I bet they would have got in. Ditto UT. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Hey who knows...not saying Missouri can't or won't be...but I think this is new information...so it is back to the drawing board a bit.
I feel like one huge thing is...nobody wants to be the one to really pull that last jenga block to make the B12 fold. Legally and just for the sake of a lot of bullshit I think people want B12 teams without being blamed for burning the house down.
Say MU were to be invited and leave with Texas and OU and all the other teams staying to keep the B12 going. That can happen without people thinking you wrecked the B12 but then again...that is new...we didn't think about this.
Did you?
I think you are coming down on a varied a constantly changing situation with a ton of assumptions.
How you take all this info and go. "Mizzou was invited to the SEC...they had the golden ticket and said no!" out of all these ups and downs and turns seems kinda silly to me.
You guys really need to get the fuck out while you can. I hate MU with a passion, but I know if that was KU with a chance to jet, I would want them to. [Reply]
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Well, I don't think that is set and if it is for how long? You think we are not doing this same dance in less than a year?
The Big 12 is not sustainable. Too many lines crossed.
This apparent conclusion is why I stopped following the rumors. Too much is complete BS.
Texas is going to have to find a hell of an opportunity to want to fold a conference that they control. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pants:
You guys really need to get the **** out while you can. I hate MU with a passion, but I know if that was KU with a chance to jet, I would want them to.
Ha, yes but that is the thing. People always slam Missouri for not making things happen that simply and frustratingly are not all up to their control.
We will see how it pans out. The last 30 hours of news have been unreal. [Reply]
