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.
Right. I get the humor of the Big 12 folks dumping on the B1G all the time and overnight becoming desperate to get into it, but ISU doesn’t expand their footprint, doesn't add any major media market, doesn’t add to their football credibility, and probably doesn’t compare to other rumored possibilities like schools currently in the ACC if non-football athletics are considered. I’m not slagging ISU, I just don’t see how it makes any sense at all. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Eleazar:
Right. I get the humor of the Big 12 folks dumping on the B1G all the time and overnight becoming desperate to get into it, but ISU doesn’t expand their footprint, doesn't add any major media market, doesn’t add to their football credibility, and probably doesn’t compare to other rumored possibilities like schools currently in the ACC if non-football athletics are considered. I’m not slagging ISU, I just don’t see how it makes any sense at all.
Good point I saw made by Gabe DeArmond this morning:
For the B1G schools to break even financially, the new schools would need to add $60M of value to the league’s payouts.
Unless the big leagues decide to break away from the NCAA right now, the B1G may stay out. PAC and ACC should be aggressive.
KU to the ACC might make a lot of sense, even right now. They probably need another National brand more than the B1G does. [Reply]
Heard today from several people that B1G only would be interested in adding schools from the AAU (Nebraska no longer, but was when it joined league). Texas is AAU member, along with Pac-12 schools like Cal, Washington, Colorado, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford. Oklahoma is not AAU.
Originally Posted by TribalElder:
Wow, what a difficult place to be for all the leftover Big12 members
The uncertainty would suck, knowing that no matter what things are likely going to get much worse for you. ouch
My prof in grad school used to day: “Your first option in any decision is to do nothing”. People often forget that.
Applying it to the B12 rump....what does do-nothing look like? If I read this right, there’s 3 years left on that zombie TV deal OU and Tex just walked away from. So $350M split 8 ways now = $40m+ in the short run.
I believe that gives them 3 years to figure out a plan. Not 3 days. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
My prof in grad school used to day: “Your first option in any decision is to do nothing”. People often forget that.
Applying it to the B12 rump....what does do-nothing look like? If I read this right, there’s 3 years left on that zombie TV deal OU and Tex just walked away from. So $350M split 8 ways now = $40m+ in the short run.
I believe that gives them 3 years to figure out a plan. Not 3 days.
From what I've heard, that contract can be renegotiated if any schools leave the conference [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Unless the big leagues decide to break away from the NCAA right now, the B1G may stay out. PAC and ACC should be aggressive.
KU to the ACC might make a lot of sense, even right now. They probably need another National brand more than the B1G does.
What about the Big East? Isn’t that more a basketball conference? [Reply]