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 lawrenceRaider:
This wouldn't be happening now if they had stayed.
Also, it will be a massive mistake for Texas especially to head to the SEC. They can't really compete in the B12.
Disagree. Texas's constant flirtations with the PAC 10/12 back in the early 2010s is what led to this. After that why wouldn't the other schools GTFO and head for greener pastures. [Reply]
Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider:
This wouldn't be happening now if they had stayed.
Also, it will be a massive mistake for Texas especially to head to the SEC. They can't really compete in the B12.
It would be a massive mistake for Texas to leave the Big 12, period. They essentially run the conference right now. They'd have to actually share and collaborate if they joined another conference.
The teams that left left for good reason. The Big 12 is not a conference, it's a pyramid scheme. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Quality of the on-field product is just one facet of the whole picture.
Nebraska is in WAY better shape now than when they were in the B12. Way better.
Exactly.
Yeah they might not be as competitive in the BIG 10 but at least that conference is solid as a rock. I think we are headed to 3 or 4 large conferences, no more power 5, and in doing so they are going to govern themselves as a league. NCAA is nothing more than a playoff bracket and tournament organizer.
Not to make this political, but the driver in this is just as much COVID than it is TV contracts. [Reply]
Not going to be a popular thing to say but I see no reason for the Big 10 to bring in KU. Not really adding much in regards to audience, basketball won't be a driving force as evidenced with the teams in the Big East, and KU is probably going to be saddled with KState. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tredadda:
Not going to be a popular thing to say but I see no reason for the Big 10 to bring in KU. Not really adding much in regards to audience, basketball won't be a driving force as evidenced with the teams in the Big East, and KU is probably going to be saddled with KState.
AAU School as well. That along with the Basketball program would probably be enough to make them the most desirable. Assuming this leads to an arms race to 16 teams in each conference, of course. [Reply]
Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider:
This wouldn't be happening now if they had stayed.
Also, it will be a massive mistake for Texas especially to head to the SEC. They can't really compete in the B12.
What is happening now is the reason Missouri left when it did.
Texas was never going to commit to anything other than Texas. Missouri saw an opportunity to secure its own destiny/place, and took it.
Because this was always going to come around again. At some point, UT would decide it could get a better deal for itself elsewhere. And rather than risk getting stuck fighting desperately for a few spot in a new B1G or new ACC or new PAC.
The whole realignment scenario exposed just how fragile the Big 12 was. For the same reasons that led the Big 8 to expand in the 90s.
KU will be fine. Oklahoma and Texas will be fine. It's all the other schools that will be left scrambling. I feel for them and their fans. [Reply]
Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED:
It was eye-opening realizing how far behind the competitive level was in the Big 12 and how little it prepared us for a tough week in-week out real conference
:-) Didn't Mizzou go to the SEC championship game in 2 of its first 3 seasons in the SEC?
If the Big 12 was such a joke of a conference that left teams "unprepared", why did a middling Big 12 team go over and have so much instant success? [Reply]
Originally Posted by sedated: :-) Didn't Mizzou go to the SEC championship game in 2 of its first 3 seasons in the SEC?
If the Big 12 was such a joke of a conference that left teams "unprepared", why did a middling Big 12 team go over and have so much instant success?
Because we still had the same coaching staff and recruits without any turnover at that point. The SEC East was pretty weak the first couple seasons we were there with Georgia and Florida. It was like the Big 12 North. Make no mistake, Mizzou lucked into those championship games. They have always been a mid-tier team in football. Pinkel was way overrated by Mizzou fans. He was the Marty Schottenheimer of the Tigers program. Never won anything big, but a consistent winner toward the middle-top of the league. I do think the SEC move and Odom debacle slowed down what the end game was, but I think we’re starting to see what a good coach can do in the SEC with his recruiting already so the future is definitely looking much brighter for them now. They put together another promising season like last year and then get that top 20 recruiting class in here, the wheels could really get turning. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
What is happening now is the reason Missouri left when it did.
Texas was never going to commit to anything other than Texas. Missouri saw an opportunity to secure its own destiny/place, and took it.
Because this was always going to come around again. At some point, UT would decide it could get a better deal for itself elsewhere. And rather than risk getting stuck fighting desperately for a few spot in a new B1G or new ACC or new PAC.
The whole realignment scenario exposed just how fragile the Big 12 was. For the same reasons that led the Big 8 to expand in the 90s.
KU will be fine. Oklahoma and Texas will be fine. It's all the other schools that will be left scrambling. I feel for them and their fans.
Iowa State has the academic pedigree and the in-state relationship with U of I that could make them desirable to the Big 10. In fact, they might be the most likely candidate right now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Iowa State has the academic pedigree and the in-state relationship with U of I that could make them desirable to the Big 10. In fact, they might be the most likely candidate right now.
Yeah. Unless Iowa wants to block them for whatever reason KU and ISU just seem to make the most sense. Both AAU with a blue blood Basketball program and emerging football program respectively. [Reply]
