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 tredadda:
Perhaps, but they have an elite mindset and a lot of those schools don't feel inferior to anyone. I think the B1G has a better chance at poaching the ACC than the PAC 12.
The ACC has their Grant of Rights media agreement in place until like 2036. [Reply]
I get that it would be logistically impossible to coordinate, but what's the reasoning the big time programs in the Power 5 not leading the charge in breaking off from NCAA oversight especially after NIL rights have been established? [Reply]
Originally Posted by ping2000:
Texas and the rest of the SWC trash schools ruined the Big 8. Now they are ruining the Big 12. **** Texas in the ass.
To be fair, I doubt the Big 8 could survive in the present climate. It would have been cool though if the Big 8 poached schools from the B1G instead for longevity purposes. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Raiderhader:
So aTm is just going to go ahead and go along to get along? If I were them that show of “unity” would come with the price of an agreement that they are in a separate division/pod than UT.
Originally Posted by BWillie:
To be fair, I doubt the Big 8 could survive in the present climate. It would have been cool though if the Big 8 poached schools from the B1G instead for longevity purposes.
True, but fuck Texas in the ass anyway. Bunch of dicks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Breaking news: Texas can no longer say they are just Texas and not in "The South". Oklahoma can no longer claim they are in the Midwest and must change the name of Midwest City, OK.
You are all just - THE SOUTH - now.
Texas will now have been in both the Southwest and Southeast conference.
Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88:
The Big 10 is obsessed with AAU membership... EXCEPT when it comes to the one school they most covet, Notre Lame (which isn't AAU).
Big Ten also has an academic research consortium that is as valuable as the sports side. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mile High Mania:
I have not read all of this, so apologies if it's a repeat or has proven to be false.
I am a lifelong Razorback fan, growing up in the old SWC days. I have always wanted a 'home and home' series with Texas. It was a shock when the Hogs left for the SEC and I'm glad they moved.
That being said, I don't think I'm a fan of admitting OU and TX. And, if I read it correctly, it would only take 4 teams voting against it to stop it. Believe that Missouri, A&M and Arkansas would all vote no... leaving just one more team to prevent it.
At the end of the day, the schools will let them in if it means the dollars for their pool increases significantly.
I don't think OU needs any help with recruiting, but joining the SEC won't hurt them aside from being able to lock in the conference title every year. Texas - they certainly need the SEC more than the SEC needs them.
Mizzou isn't voting no. This is a best of both worlds. You get Texas and its prestige and access to the benefits it provides as a conference member... but you get them in a conference that is so big and nasty by itself, it can tell UT to eff off and go away if they don't like things.
Originally Posted by ping2000:
Texas and the rest of the SWC trash schools ruined the Big 8. Now they are ruining the Big 12. **** Texas in the ass.
This is why we left when we could. The Big 12 was never going to be viable because Texas was always going to do this (Just a matter of whether it was SEC, B1G, or PAC). Mizzou jumped to secure a place in what would be one of the survivors of the final round of conference jumping.
I/we took a lot of shit in 2011. But it was all in anticipation of this. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
To be fair, I doubt the Big 8 could survive in the present climate. It would have been cool though if the Big 8 poached schools from the B1G instead for longevity purposes.
LOL Wut?
Hey, join the Big 12 err 8, and we will promise you less than 30 million annually in media rights money. I know the Big 10 gives you 50 plus, but the 20-25 we offer is good because you can probably also own our asses in football. [Reply]
