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.
It's time, time to get what you can while you can, before it's too late! This includes going after some programs hard to get the TV markets.
West Division - Plus TV Market
BYU - SLC
Boise State - Well, Boise and most of the Mtn Zone
CU / Co State - Denver ( I prefer CU over Co St.) Seriously doubt CU would, less $$
Baylor - Waco, Austin, Central Tx.
KSU - Not much, western Ks, Wichita and some KC
KU - Same as KSU but a bigger national draw.
TCU - Dallas/Ft Worth
Tx Tech - West Texas
East Division - PLus TV Market
ISU - Des Moines
OSU - Oklahoma & Texas
Houston - Houston, East Tx
Memphis - Memphis
UC - Cincinnati
West Virginia - ? You tell me, but good football & Basketball
UCF - Orlando
USF - Miami
You can have 4 pods,
BYU,Boise St,CU,Tx Tech
KU,KSU,TCU,Baylor
Houston,ISU,OSU,Memphis
UCF,USF,WV, Cincy
IMHO, it's all coming down to Super Conferences and the teams that don't move now is going to have a hard time landing into a competitive conference from top to bottom in football and basketball.
Will it happen? Nope, just because, that's why. Would this be the best fit for the current 8 schools in the B12 ? I think so, but to get 8 more schools to jump all at once, going to take a very big sales job by somebody.
So what am I missing here on this take ? It's not the SEC, but I think those 16 schools would give them a legitimate chance at claiming # 3 behind the SEC at times based on how good the recruiting goes. The Big10 will still be a step in front on the # 2 conference. So the fight for # 3 is ACC,Pac 12 and whatever can come about with the B12 ( err 16? ).
You can possibly change up ISU for TCU in the divisions & pods. [Reply]
The overriding sentiment that I'm hearing from various ties to Lawrence is that KU to the Big 10 can basically be considered a done deal at this point. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ROYC75:
It's time, time to get what you can while you can, before it's too late! This includes going after some programs hard to get the TV markets.
West Division - Plus TV Market
BYU - SLC
Boise State - Well, Boise and most of the Mtn Zone
CU / Co State - Denver ( I prefer CU over Co St.) Seriously doubt CU would, less $$
Baylor - Waco, Austin, Central Tx.
KSU - Not much, western Ks, Wichita and some KC
KU - Same as KSU but a bigger national draw.
TCU - Dallas/Ft Worth
Tx Tech - West Texas
East Division - PLus TV Market
ISU - Des Moines
OSU - Oklahoma & Texas
Houston - Houston, East Tx
Memphis - Memphis
UC - Cincinnati
West Virginia - ? You tell me, but good football & Basketball
UCF - Orlando
USF - Miami
You can have 4 pods,
BYU,Boise St,CU,Tx Tech
KU,KSU,TCU,Baylor
Houston,ISU,OSU,Memphis
UCF,USF,WV, Cincy
IMHO, it's all coming down to Super Conferences and the teams that don't move now is going to have a hard time landing into a competitive conference from top to bottom in football and basketball.
Will it happen? Nope, just because, that's why. Would this be the best fit for the current 8 schools in the B12 ? I think so, but to get 8 more schools to jump all at once, going to take a very big sales job by somebody.
So what am I missing here on this take ? It's not the SEC, but I think those 16 schools would give them a legitimate chance at claiming # 3 behind the SEC at times based on how good the recruiting goes. The Big10 will still be a step in front on the # 2 conference. So the fight for # 3 is ACC,Pac 12 and whatever can come about with the B12 ( err 16? ).
You can possibly change up ISU for TCU in the divisions & pods.
There is NOTHING "super" about that conference. [Reply]
Originally Posted by arrowheadnation:
The overriding sentiment that I'm hearing from various ties to Lawrence is that KU to the Big 10 can basically be considered a done deal at this point.
I hope so. That would likely mean Iowa State goes as well. PAC takes OSU, KSU, and Tech. Maybe TCU, probably not Baylor. Or maybe even Houston if they really don’t want religious ties. ACC grabs WVU, then who knows if they want to be at 15 1/2 schools or 16 1/2.
Nothing is going to happen until the OuuT mess gets figured out. When they are officially leaving, what the consequences will be, and so on.
Everyone assumes OuuT are gone after this year, but the SEC’s media contract with ESPN doesn’t start until 24. Does CBS really want to fork out cash to pay for two schools that colluded with ESPN go outbid CBS? [Reply]
I hope it doesn’t come to expansion, but if it does I’d go to 14. I think there’s 5 schools they can add that are better than a decent amount of P5 schools, my 6th has some history of being better. I’d add BYU, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, UCF, and Boise St. Take the risk of being the first conference to go to streaming. Amazon would likely pay more than Fox/CBS/ESPN. It also opens the door for Amazon to buy other conferences rights in the next wave 10 or so years down the road.
Top to bottom that’s a very competitive conference and would have a lot of good games. The obvious problem is there’s no blue blood at the top, since in this day and age the only thing that matters about a conference is it’s top 1-2 schools. [Reply]
With all the uncertainty surrounding the remnants of the Big12 I would be pretty surprised if many schools would be willing to gamble their future and jump on board [Reply]