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 :
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—Missouri will be officially announced as the SEC’s 14th team early next week, a high-placed SEC source told Sporting News on Saturday afternoon.
When asked Saturday about a pending Missouri announcement, SEC commissioner Mike Slive declined comment.
Gary Pinkel and Missouri are expected to join the SEC next season. (AP Photo)
The school is expected to join next year after negotiating its buyout from Big 12.
Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton canceled a business trip to India scheduled to run through the second week of this month. A high-placed SEC source also said Missouri would be placed in the East Division to avoid any potential scheduling conflicts with longstanding conference rivalries.
There are numerous reasons the SEC and Missouri held off on announcing the news sooner, including Missouri’s negotiations with the Big 12 on exit fees. Another reason the SEC held off: Administrators wanted the league’s marquee game—Saturday’s LSU at Alabama, No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup—to be the focus of the news cycle over the last two weeks.
Missouri, like Texas A&M, will be a complete conference member from the day it is officially announced and will share equally in the league’s revenue.
Slive did say the SEC will “look into” restructuring contracts with television partners CBS and ESPN. Industry sources say the SEC is looking into creating a separate network for the league’s nonconference games. The thinking is that the league’s 14 teams would bundle low-tier nonconference games into a separate network.
In other words, there would be 14 more games of inventory for the SEC to sell and for television networks to advertise. Those games likely would be lower-tier games, such as Alabama’s game against Georgia Southern on Nov. 19.
Missouri's move to the Southeasten Conference was finished Friday, a source confirmed to ESPN.com on Saturday.
The Tigers' move from the Big 12 to the SEC is expected to be announced next week. The source said the SEC and Missouri opted to put off the announcement because they didn't want to upstage the LSU-Alabama football game Saturday night.
The Sporting News first reported the deal's completion Saturday.
Missouri is expected to join the SEC East in football with Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, the source said. Fellow Big 12 member Texas A&M will be in the West with Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
SEC men's basketball went to one division this season but it's unclear if that will continue with 14 teams.
Missouri's move to the SEC in 2012 could mirror West Virginia's to the Big 12 in 2012 in its uncertainty. A source said Missouri could have trouble getting out of the Big 12 because the league isn't sure if it can get the Mountaineers in from the Big East next season.
West Virginia filed a lawsuit to get out of the 27-month exit agreement with the Big East. The league has countered with a suit of its own. If West Virginia can't get out of the Big East then the Big 12 will try to keep Missouri for 2012 to avoid dropping below 10 schools.
The Big 12 needs 10 schools to meet television agreements, but more importantly, to fill scheduling dates. The Big 12 already replaced Texas A&M with TCU for 2012. The Horned Frogs went from the Mountain West to the Big 12, bypassing their original plan to go to the Big East.
Missouri's departure to the SEC will follow the league's expansion plan of adding schools in new markets and states (Missouri/St. Louis, Texas/Houston). It also bumps up the SEC's number of Association of American Universities from two to four with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri. Vandy and Florida were the only two AAU members in the SEC.
Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
Follow Andy Katz on Twitter: @ESPNAndyKatz [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wickedson:
You're still trying this?
lol, nice game today.
You and AtM are having fantastic send offs if I don't say.
Don't worry. I am sure Mizzou will give Kansas an epic send off at Arrowhead. Also, the Big 12 will never go back to 12 as long as Texas runs the show. [Reply]
