Funny Stuff New Conference re-alignment thread - Page 483

The old one has AIDS.

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.

Stay tuned.
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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Why would adding another team force anyone to drop a non-con?

If they stick to 4 non-con games and play 6 'divisional' games, they have their 'rival' game against the other division and an additional non-rival game across the division (crosses fingers; hopes for Ole Miss...).

Sooner or later they'll likely switch to 9 conference games and 3 non-con, but absolutely nothing that happens over the next couple of weeks would mandate that.

Yeah, it probably is just a simple process of 'insert Missouri here'; especially since it would actually make conference scheduling much easier on balance. They could have it knocked out in a matter of hours, really. A computer algorithm would spit out a bunch of alternatives, they'd probably be able to boot several of them out immediately and have a schedule voted on and finalized by the end of the day.

It wouldn't be that difficult at all.

"Nobody".
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Hey. This is a great take. You really had a good feel for this stuff after all...

Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade:
I'm actually thinking KU, MU and KSU go to the Big East. I know MU may have options, but I think they would prefer the Big East to the SEC for three reasons:

Preserves rivalries with KU and KSU
Easier path to conference championship
Mizzou prides itself on its academic reputation and the SEC doesn't help that

Those three pair with TCU, South Florida and Louisville and they get to keep the Texas recruiting lines they've established plus try and stake out Florida as well.

The conference would still be an AQ conference though obviously devoid of heavyweights. It won't warrant a contract on the level of the Big Three, but it should still be a sizable deal, especially since all that Big XII money will be freed up.

Plus, all three of those schools are basketball schools as well and a 20 team conference would surely offer Kansas City a part of a huge basketball tournament. You would have to hold initial rounds at two different sites with maybe a Final Four to New York?

KC would still be a vital college sports town.

What do you think Tiggers? Do you like that or do you think the Mizzou faithful would demand the SEC if it offers?

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