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 Laz:
so who brings the biggest t.v. numbers?
Cincy
West Virginia
Louisville
also there were rumors awhile back that Arkansas is not very happy in the SEC. Would they be a good market to add? At this point, would they even consider leaving the SEC?
Yeah I can't see any reason why Arkansas wouldn't want to leave the SEC for the Big 12. I wonder why no one else has thought of that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Laz:
so who brings the biggest t.v. numbers?
Cincy
West Virginia
Louisville
also there were rumors awhile back that Arkansas is not very happy in the SEC. Would they be a good market to add? At this point, would they even consider leaving the SEC?
West Virginia has the most tv sets, but half of them are non-working sets that sit beneath working ones. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Yeah I can't see any reason why Arkansas wouldn't want to leave the SEC for the Big 12. I wonder why no one else has thought of that.
Why doesn't the Big IIX just add USC, Ohio State, Michigan, LSU, Florida, and Alabama? [Reply]
1. Missouri’s promise of putting on a college basketball tournament in December in Kansas City if it were to leave for the SEC won’t be such an easy outcome. Team-oriented invitational tournaments are dying in the sport. Few power-six schools play in these non-exempt two-game tournaments anymore. According to a tournament organizer, Missouri’s best option would be to play a semi-neutral series at the Sprint Center, like facing Gonzaga in year one and then playing the Zags in Seattle in year two. Play Connecticut in Boston in year one and UConn in KC in year two. Most non-elite tournaments have shut down because of the difficulty of scheduling these games.
2. The Big 12 tournament is in Kansas City in 2012, 2013 and 2014, rounding out the five-year run at the Sprint Center that began with the 2010 tournament. But any fear that attendance could drop significantly without Mizzou in possibly 2013 and 2014 shouldn’t be an issue for the league. Kansas City is a Kansas and Kansas State city first, as evidenced by the crowd at the championship game in 2010. I was there. I saw. The atmosphere was terrific for the two Kansas schools. Losing Mizzou takes away one of the local schools, but if other schools like Iowa State or Oklahoma State – two conference schools in hoops that have the potential to draw well – continue on an upward trajectory, the loss of Mizzou can be muted. And as long as Kansas and Kansas State are playing well, attendance won’t be an issue. If this tourney was in St. Louis, that could be a different matter. But it’s not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Laz:
so who brings the biggest t.v. numbers?
Cincy
West Virginia
Louisville
also there were rumors awhile back that Arkansas is not very happy in the SEC. Would they be a good market to add? At this point, would they even consider leaving the SEC?
1. Missouri’s promise of putting on a college basketball tournament in December in Kansas City if it were to leave for the SEC won’t be such an easy outcome. Team-oriented invitational tournaments are dying in the sport. Few power-six schools play in these non-exempt two-game tournaments anymore. According to a tournament organizer, Missouri’s best option would be to play a semi-neutral series at the Sprint Center, like facing Gonzaga in year one and then playing the Zags in Seattle in year two. Play Connecticut in Boston in year one and UConn in KC in year two. Most non-elite tournaments have shut down because of the difficulty of scheduling these games.
2. The Big 12 tournament is in Kansas City in 2012, 2013 and 2014, rounding out the five-year run at the Sprint Center that began with the 2010 tournament. But any fear that attendance could drop significantly without Mizzou in possibly 2013 and 2014 shouldn’t be an issue for the league. Kansas City is a Kansas and Kansas State city first, as evidenced by the crowd at the championship game in 2010. I was there. I saw. The atmosphere was terrific for the two Kansas schools. Losing Mizzou takes away one of the local schools, but if other schools like Iowa State or Oklahoma State – two conference schools in hoops that have the potential to draw well – continue on an upward trajectory, the loss of Mizzou can be muted. And as long as Kansas and Kansas State are playing well, attendance won’t be an issue. If this tourney was in St. Louis, that could be a different matter. But it’s not. [Reply]
also there were rumors awhile back that Arkansas is not very happy in the SEC. Would they be a good market to add? At this point, would they even consider leaving the SEC?
Originally Posted by NewChief:
Yeah. We hate it in the SEC. :-)
It doesn't matter how stupid the Big Leftover fans statements are, they just keep firing. Its like the bad guy who bounces 6 bullets off Superman's chest and then throws the empty gun at him.
Its not working guys, but keep throwing your guns. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
It doesn't matter how stupid the Big Leftover fans statements are, they just keep firing. Its like the bad guy who bounces 6 bullets off Superman's chest and then throws the empty gun at him.
Its not working guys, but keep throwing your guns.
Its not the Big leftover conference Muron...
Its the Titanic 12 lead by Iraqs Defense Minister..
Originally Posted by notorious:
Not really coming from a fan that talks down on a conference in which his team did absolutely nothing worth noting.
Its great how the conference screws MU out of a BCS game and then says "who cares if MU leaves, they couldn't even make a BCS game". Deuces, bitch. Enjoy the leftovers. [Reply]
