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 Saulbadguy:
He has been, and that is discussed further in the thread.
However, that particular poster is very well connected. Believe it or not, I don't care, but he is always dead on.
However well connected he is, he's wrong on this one (or his sources are).
Pinkel wants this. Alden wants this. The only people involved who needed to be sold on it were Erdmann and Deaton, and they were sold on it.
Pinkel has been a strong supporter of the move, pushing behind the scenes. Learning this was one of the reasons I switched my stance on Mizzou to the SEC (as well as the constant clown show from the Big 12).
I don't understand why anyone would think Haith would be against this. Missouri would be a strong contender in SEC hoops, and his ties are to the Southeast as far as recruiting goes. This only helps with that.
And baseball... well, it's really a similar situation as in the Big 12. Still some competitive problems due to weather, but this is the sort of move that might find funding for an indoor practice facility for the baseball team. That's what Missouri needs to really improve as a baseball program. (That, and better luck - the Tigers have been hit much harder by baseball draft recently than they're used to). [Reply]
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
Do you have proof?
Proof? No, no one does. But numerous Mizzou insiders, the guys that have called the SEC move from the beginning and have the staff connections to announce commits before PowerMizzou, have said unanimously that the football coaching staff is on board and have been one of the driving forces behind it.
Pinkel would never have spoken out on LHN and the inequality in the Big 12 if he didn't know we had an ace up our sleeve with the SEC. He has zero concern over job security and will be at Mizzou until he retires (probably 2017 after his extension). Haith and the basketball staff are on board as well, but frankly it doesn't matter to them where we go and they don't have a ton of say anyways. It is probably true that Jamieson doesn't love the move, he will get exposed in SEC baseball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Proof? No, no one does. But numerous Mizzou insiders, the guys that have called the SEC move from the beginning and have the staff connections to announce commits before PowerMizzou
The same guys that called the "We're leaving the Big 12 for the SEC" announcement for Monday.....or was it Tuesday.....Wednesday maybe? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mr. Plow:
The same guys that called the "We're leaving the Big 12 for the SEC" announcement for Monday.....or was it Tuesday.....Wednesday maybe?
Yes, because getting the exact date on announcement timing is much more relevant than actually calling the story from the beginning when no one was talking about it.
And clearly the SEC is out of the loop too since the date on their Mizzou to SEC story was old. Dumbasses, amirite? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mr. Plow:
The same guys that called the "We're leaving the Big 12 for the SEC" announcement for Monday.....or was it Tuesday.....Wednesday maybe?
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
Yes, because getting the exact date on announcement timing is much more relevant than actually calling the story from the beginning when no one was talking about it.
And clearly the SEC is out of the loop too since the date on their Mizzou to SEC story was old. Dumbasses, amirite?
I guess 3 separate sources can be wrong on the exact date of the announcement when saying it will be tomorrow, but they can't be wrong on the rest of it from 3 months ago....
On Friday afternoon, Missouri officials announced that Chancellor Brady Deaton had been authorized to make decisions regarding the University's conference affiliation. Multiple sources have told PowerMizzou.com the first major decision from Deaton should come in the next 24 hours.
Three separate sources have told PowerMizzou.com Deaton is expected to inform the Big 12 Conference that Missouri will conditionally withdraw from the league on Monday.
There is a Big 12 Board of Directors meeting scheduled for Monday in Dallas. On Sunday, the Kansas City Star reported that Deaton would attend the meeting. Again, sources have told PowerMizzou.com the expectation is that Missouri will withdraw from the Big 12 at that time, pending acceptance into another conference.
While nothing official has happened, it is widely speculated and believed that the Tigers will become, upon their withdrawal from the Big 12, the 14th member of the Southeastern Conference. No exact timetable for that acceptance is known, though most believe it will happen by the end of the week.
Multiple sources have indicated that Missouri is likely to be placed in the Eastern Division of the SEC. PowerMizzou.com will continue to follow this story to its conclusion.[/quote] [Reply]
