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 Superturtle:
Eh, just scuttlebutt from some USC podcaster. I don't think it's all that reliable.
The only logical spot for ku is The B1G and I'd say that's a <20% chance. Their focus, IMO, is going to be snagging additional PAC schools like Stanford, CAL and probably U Dubb - that Seattle market is too good to pass up. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pants:
You mean the MU football, UK basketball fan who now doesn't care about UK basketball or MU football and only cares about UK football?
Originally Posted by Superturtle:
Hey, I agree with you. But for some reason Notre Dame has valued it's independence for this long. They'd essentially be a pseudo member regardless with how many rivals are in the BIG 10 now.
The presence of Super Conferences is problematic for ND.
With 20 school conferences there are going to be fewer and fewer out of conference games. And any of those Non Conference games are going to be those little schools that are looking for pay checks. So who is ND going to play that's interesting if suddenly Clemson is gone and you can't schedule Big 10 teams?
Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
What incentive does Colorado have to stay in the PAC since I'm assuming the biggest out of state plurality of alumni live in LA?
Travel costs and recruiting base would be royally fucked if they leave. [Reply]
How long til we see NFL coaches get poached by college schools? I mean Mel Tucker got a 90 mil contract and you'd have to think with the expansion those deals are only going to be bigger. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiTown:
The only logical spot for ku is The B1G and I'd say that's a <20% chance. Their focus, IMO, is going to be snagging additional PAC schools like Stanford, CAL and probably U Dubb - that Seattle market is too good to pass up.
As the constant realignment is completely driven by Football, eventually we will get to the point where certain schools get left out in the cold of the new power football conferences. At that point, football may no longer be as profitable to the school as when they were bottom feeders in a respectable conference.
I look forward to Kansas (and a few others) dropping football, getting out of this constant reshuffling, and joining the Big East for some stability and what will become the premier basketball conference. [Reply]
Originally Posted by myselff77:
As the constant realignment is completely driven by Football, eventually we will get to the point where certain schools get left out in the cold of the new power football conferences. At that point, football may no longer be as profitable to the school as when they were bottom feeders in a respectable conference.
I look forward to Kansas (and a few others) dropping football, getting out of this constant reshuffling, and joining the Big East for some stability and what will become the premier basketball conference.
I'm not a ku fan, but trust me, you don't want that. [Reply]
