Other Sports Big 10 Report: Conference Realignment - Page 46

Mr. Laz · 02:57 PM

A source in St. Louis familiar with the situation told NewsCenter 16 Thursday afternoon that Missouri will leave the Big XII and soon join the Big 10. Other schools expected to follow the Tigers are Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Nebraska.

Many have speculated that such an expansion would include Notre Dame but ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick told me today that the Irish prefer to stay independent in football and in the Big East for other sports. Swarbrick said maintaining football Independence is such a part of what Notre Dame is.

He went on to say the Big East is a great partner for the University in other sports.

"We do have to monitor what is going on," Swarbrick said. "There will be significant shifts. "Hopefully we can navigate them by keeping our football independent and keeping our Big East affiliation because that is what we care about."

The move of Syracuse, Pitt and Rutgers to the Big Ten from the Big East could categorically change the landscape of the Big East itself. Thus, what Swarbrick is referring to when stating the University must continue to monitor what is going on.

The interview with Swarbrick was done before the late afternoon announcement.

http://www.wndu.com/sports/headlines/92447574.html

Mr. Laz · 05-04-2010, 10:16 PM

College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight

**luv** · 05-04-2010, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laz

College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight

Oh! I called this when I first heard about Mizzou possibly leaving.

ChiefsCountry · 05-04-2010, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laz

College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight

I have about the same shot at banging Carrie Underwood as this happening.

BWillie · 05-04-2010, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laz

College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight

If Arkansas moved to the Big 12 from the SEC w/out being kicked out. I'm quite confident their AD would be assassinated shortly after.

chiefsfan987 · 05-05-2010, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie007

If Arkansas moved to the Big 12 from the SEC w/out being kicked out. I'm quite confident their AD would be assassinated shortly after.

It might not be a bad move for them. They'd have a better shot of playing for titles in the Big XII (especially if they were placed in the North) which I don't think would disappoint their fans that much. If the Big XII gets a better tv deal bringing in significantly more money the next go around why wouldn't they at least explore the possibility?

Mojo Jojo · 05-05-2010, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laz

College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight

Didn't Arkansas start this whole mess? They left the SWC for the SEC....Texas schools then needed new partners. Big 8 sold out to Texas schools...Ann Richards said soon to be Big 12 has to take Baylor over Houston. The Big 12 came about...the Big 10 added Penn State...everyone wanted to be a super conference.

This is all Arkansas' fault.

KChiefs1 · 05-05-2010, 06:32 AM

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/04...he-center.html

Mizzou living large at the center of Big Ten expansion talk

By MIKE DeARMOND

The Kansas City Star

COLUMBIA | Stuart Eastman — a Missouri fan and booster known on one Internet site as Tiger Stu — doesn’t buy the notion that MU officials are just sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be contacted by the Big Ten Conference.

Eastman subscribes to a “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” theory.

Contact has been made, if perhaps indirectly, between Missouri and the Big Ten, which seems poised — through expansion by as many as five teams — to change the face of big-time college athletics.

“Oh sure,” Eastman said. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It’s not like all of a sudden this is going to take place.

“We’ve been talked to. It’s happened.

“And we’re being politically correct and not saying a word because that’s probably the best thing we can do.”

Never mind that within minutes of Eastman offering up that opinion at an athletic banquet Monday night at Mizzou Arena, MU athletic director Mike Alden once again did the politically correct thing.

“We maintain what our position has been all along,” Alden said. “We’re members of the Big 12 Conference. We don’t get involved in that speculation. We’re trying to make Missouri better every day.”
Welcome to life inside the bubble.

Columbia — home to the 20-sport athletic program of the Missouri Tigers and the flagship campus of the University of Missouri system — is the focus of increasing attention of the best kind.

That’s the way Gary Link, a former Missouri basketball player and current radio analyst and special assistant to Alden who works in the Tiger Scholarship Fund office, sees it.

“The speculation’s great,” Link said. “Anytime they’re talking about you about something like that, it’s fantastic.”

Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Rutgers — lately Nebraska — and Missouri are high on the list of possible Big Ten additions.

Last week a TV report out of South Bend, Ind. — citing an anonymous St. Louis source — had Missouri all but signed and sealed as a new member of the Big Ten.

A day before, KOMU-TV in Columbia reported that Mizzou to the Big Ten was a “done deal” until taking down the initial story.

This week, Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman told the Omaha World-Herald that he anticipated expansion in some form by late summer. On Monday, Link told The Star that expansion could come before the start of this football season.

This despite Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany reiterating recently the league’s intent on keeping to a 12- to 18-month investigative timeline, with the clock only having begun to tick in the middle of last December.
The effect of this speculative swirl on Missouri athletes and coaches is disparate.

“It would surprise me a lot,” said freshman basketball guard Michael Dixon when asked whether he anticipated an announcement by Missouri as early as September.

Senior basketball guard J.T. Tiller, meanwhile, said it would not surprise him at all.

“We’ve heard the talk,” Tiller said. “It’s everywhere. The more talk you hear the more it is a consideration.”

Kim English, a sophomore MU basketball player, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised. I love the Big 12. But I’m just ready to play winning basketball, anywhere. I don’t really care where.”

Michelle Collins, a senior on Missouri’s Big 12 champion soccer team — from Naperville, Ill., in the heart of Big Ten country — trusts the MU administration will do the right thing.

“As long as Mizzou continues to grow, if moving to the Big Ten helps that notoriety, sure, go for it,” Collins said. “If not, Mizzou athletics is still due for big things.”

MU softball coach Ehren Earleywine is one of those who profess a preference for remaining in the Big 12. But Earleywine said, “it wouldn’t surprise me” if MU wound up in the Big Ten sooner than later.

“I was just talking to my wife about that,” he said. “I think the talks are getting heated up. At the end of the day, the money is going to do the ultimate talking. It’s going to make the decision. And I think there’s a lot of money to be gained.”

One of the most-often-cited examples is that out of the Big 12’s revenue sharing plan for football, Missouri gained $12 million at the last split, while the average payout for the 11 Big Ten teams was more than $21 million.

There is still residual resentment at Missouri over the Big 12 allowing the Tigers to be passed over in several recent bowl placements by league teams the Tigers had beaten, particularly a BCS spot in the Orange Bowl that went to Kansas while Missouri went to the Cotton Bowl.

But the specifics of why Missouri would be a good fit in the Big Ten are not what is in the air as the 2009-10 school year winds down. Will the Big Ten will extend an invitation that so many contend now will be readily accepted, or is it possible that Missouri might remain in the Big 12?

“Honestly, at this point, nothing would surprise me,” said Wayne Kreklow, who along with his wife, Susan, coaches MU volleyball and is the father of incoming freshman basketball player Ricky Kreklow.

“There have been so many rumors and stories circulating around. You’ve got all the big conferences positioning for all the what-ifs.

“We’re kind of on the sidelines, waiting to see when we’re sent into the game, and when we are, who we’re playing for.”

KChiefs1 · 05-05-2010, 07:10 AM

Beebe's task: Fend off Big 12 raiders

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Coumnist

BIG 12 Conference commissioner Dan Beebe is the second coming of either Nero or Teddy Roosevelt.

Some believe Beebe is fiddling while the Big 12 gets burned by conference raiders who could steal as many as seven league teams.

Others contend Beebe, like Roosevelt, is quietly wielding a big club behind the scenes as speculation over conference expansion rages.

In the past few days, we've seen the Big East hire former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to look out for its interests, SEC commissioner Mike Slive taunt the Big Ten and commissioner Larry Scott confirm the Pac-10's expansion plans remain on schedule.

Expansion hysteria has reached the point where a college football coach called out almighty Notre Dame.

Beebe, meanwhile, has made a few flippant remarks on the subject or spoke softly and succinctly about it.

The person responsible for this panic is Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. It's Delany's world right now and we're all living and waiting in it.

Delany rocked several conferences last December when he confirmed the Big Ten was exploring expansion.

The Big Ten has released little information about its plan, other than the process could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

That hasn't stopped widespread rumors. They range from the Big Ten adding one team or becoming the first super conference with 16 schools.

"I tried to put (Delany) in a headlock," joked Beebe when commissioners gathered last month in Scottsdale, Ariz. "But he's a tough guy."

Tagliabue doesn't find anything funny about Delany playing kingmaker.

Labeling Delany's expansion study as "very disruptive," Tagliabue told the New York Times that "everything outside the Big Ten is held in artificial suspension.

"The Big Ten looks at a bunch of choices and everyone else has to deal with the depreciating value and a ton of negativity. I hope there's a better way. Otherwise it's going to have a terrible negative effect on everyone other than the schools in the Big Ten."

Speaking to a gathering of Associated Press sports administrators last week, Slive made it clear that the Big Ten isn't about to steamroll the SEC.

"If there is going to be a significant shift in the conference paradigm," said Slive, "the SEC will be strategic and thoughtful to make sure it maintains its position as one of the nation's pre-eminent conferences."

The conference landscape would experience a monumental shift if the Big Ten adds five teams. Most projections in that scenario have three from the Big East and two from the Big 12 enabling the Big Ten to become the first 16-team league.

If that unfolds, some insiders believe the SEC will counter by adding Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M from the Big 12.

There's also reports that Colorado and the Pac-10 continue to flirt with each other.

Notre Dame could calm the fears of many schools if it would finally accept the Big Ten's invitation. Despite its name, the conference that currently has 11 schools would then have the 12 teams needed to stage a football championship game.

Several Big East coaches have reached the point of anger after hearing predictions their league would fold if three schools join the Big Ten.

Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce function last week, Connecticut coach Randy Edsall confirmed the anxiety throughout the Big East, which counts Notre Dame as member in every sport but football.

Edsall revealed that every Big East football coach has "asked the conference to deliver an ultimatum to Notre Dame to come into the (Big East) for football or get out entirely."

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who finished runner-up when the Big 12 named Beebe commissioner, has said the Irish remain determined to be a football independent.

If the Big East or Big Ten can't call Swarbrick's bluff and force the Irish to join one of the conferences as a full member, then Missouri and Nebraska could reportedly receive Big Ten invitations.

"I would be negligent not to be concerned," Beebe acknowledged at the commissioners meetings. "I expect that (Delany), who I have known for many, many years and trust implicitly, that he'll do what he said he's going to do.

"If and when the time comes that they're going to do anything — and if that includes any of the institutions in the Big 12 — he'll let me know first."

Perhaps Delany will keep his word. But Beebe would be wise to remember how eight members of the Western Athletic Conference stunned commissioner Karl Benson and the rest of the league by secretly meeting at the Denver airport in 1998 and voting to abandon the WAC to form the Mountain West Conference.

Beebe also believes Delany's contention that the Big Ten's expansion timetable hasn't changed. But others don't buy it, including MWC commissioner Craig Thompson.

"I think the timetable has to be a little quicker than that," said Thompson, noting the rules a school must follow to leave a conference.

Mike Holder and Joe Castiglione, the respective athletic directors at OSU and OU, are confident Beebe is quietly being proactive to ensure the Big 12 survives.

In a February interview on Big12sports.com, Beebe expressed confidence about the conference's future.

"I'm pretty comfortable that we're going to have the institutions that we have right now as we go forward," Beebe said. "I think at the end of the day that we're going to be in pretty good shape when all of this settles down."

If Beebe doesn't settle things down, he could soon be watching his conference burn down.

duncan_idaho · 05-05-2010, 07:19 AM

Some random thoughts...

Nero is insulted to be compared to a mental midget like Beebe.

I can't see Arkansas leaving the money and prestige of the SEC for the collapsing mess that is the Big 12. The Big 12 has stage 4 cancer, guys. It isn't going to make it!

Swanman · 05-05-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsfan88

Nebraska and Notre Dame are the only two teams that would add any significant value to the Big 10's football TV contracts.

They don't need to add much value to the football TV contracts, it's already a fairly huge number. You add considerable academic strength to the conference with the new schools (and yes, Miami fan, that book learning stuff is important). With football, you add strong teams in Nebraska, Mizzou and Pitt. With basketball, you add Mizzou (on the rise), and Pitt/Syracuse (national powers). Nebraska and Rutgers pretty much suck in basketball, but three out of five is pretty good.

**Bugeater** · 05-05-2010, 07:51 AM

Quote:

"I think at the end of the day that we're going to be in pretty good shape when all of this settles down."

Translated: Texas signs my paycheck, and they'll be fine.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 05-05-2010, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Pioli

I'm working on getting the Chiefs into the Big XII. Matt's still a little sore he never got to start in college, and I'm trying to get this team to a competitive level again. Win-win.

I'm sorry, did you say "Shat's ass is a little sore again"? I would think that your ass would be a little sore after Shats' theft of all those millions, yes.

KChiefs1 · 05-05-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Translated: Texas signs my paycheck, and they'll be fine.

Beebe is a douchebag.

ChiefsCountry · 05-05-2010, 04:28 PM

Hey KU fans you might not be left out of the fold just yet if Texas, UCLA, & USC get their way. When the Big Ten expands to 16 look for a new conference out West to emerge.

East
Texas
A&M
Oklahoma
Kansas
Colorado
Utah
Arizona
Arizona State

West
California
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State

This new confernece would be basically be a merger between the Big 12 and PAC-10. Ironically it would give that conference fairly close to the same amount of television sets as the new Big Ten.

KChiefs1 · 05-05-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Hey KU fans you might not be left out of the fold just yet if Texas, UCLA, & USC get their way. When the Big Ten expands to 16 look for a new conference out West to emerge.

East
Texas
A&M
Oklahoma
Kansas
Colorado
Utah
Arizona
Arizona State

West
California
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State

This new confernece would be basically be a merger between the Big 12 and PAC-10. Ironically it would give that conference fairly close to the same amount of television sets as the new Big Ten.

No Kansas State?

04-30-2010, 08:41 PM
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	Big 10 Report: Conference Realignment A source in St. Louis familiar with the situation told NewsCenter 16 Thursday afternoon that Missouri will leave the Big XII and soon join the Big 10. Other schools expected to follow the Tigers are Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Nebraska. Many have speculated that such an expansion would include Notre Dame but ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick told me today that the Irish prefer to stay independent in football and in the Big East for other sports. Swarbrick said maintaining football Independence is such a part of what Notre Dame is. He went on to say the Big East is a great partner for the University in other sports. "We do have to monitor what is going on," Swarbrick said. "There will be significant shifts. "Hopefully we can navigate them by keeping our football independent and keeping our Big East affiliation because that is what we care about." The move of Syracuse, Pitt and Rutgers to the Big Ten from the Big East could categorically change the landscape of the Big East itself. Thus, what Swarbrick is referring to when stating the University must continue to monitor what is going on. The interview with Swarbrick was done before the late afternoon announcement. http://www.wndu.com/sports/headlines/92447574.html Last edited by Mr. Laz; 06-10-2010 at 02:57 PM..
Posts: 95,626

05-04-2010, 10:16 PM	#676
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	College Live talked about Arkansas moving to the Big 12 tonight __________________
Posts: 95,626

05-05-2010, 06:32 AM	#682
KChiefs1 I’m a Mahomo! Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Mid-Missouri Casino cash: $6771021	http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/04...he-center.html Mizzou living large at the center of Big Ten expansion talk By MIKE DeARMOND The Kansas City Star COLUMBIA \| Stuart Eastman — a Missouri fan and booster known on one Internet site as Tiger Stu — doesn’t buy the notion that MU officials are just sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be contacted by the Big Ten Conference. Eastman subscribes to a “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” theory. Contact has been made, if perhaps indirectly, between Missouri and the Big Ten, which seems poised — through expansion by as many as five teams — to change the face of big-time college athletics. “Oh sure,” Eastman said. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It’s not like all of a sudden this is going to take place. “We’ve been talked to. It’s happened. “And we’re being politically correct and not saying a word because that’s probably the best thing we can do.” Never mind that within minutes of Eastman offering up that opinion at an athletic banquet Monday night at Mizzou Arena, MU athletic director Mike Alden once again did the politically correct thing. “We maintain what our position has been all along,” Alden said. “We’re members of the Big 12 Conference. We don’t get involved in that speculation. We’re trying to make Missouri better every day.” Welcome to life inside the bubble. Columbia — home to the 20-sport athletic program of the Missouri Tigers and the flagship campus of the University of Missouri system — is the focus of increasing attention of the best kind. That’s the way Gary Link, a former Missouri basketball player and current radio analyst and special assistant to Alden who works in the Tiger Scholarship Fund office, sees it. “The speculation’s great,” Link said. “Anytime they’re talking about you about something like that, it’s fantastic.” Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Rutgers — lately Nebraska — and Missouri are high on the list of possible Big Ten additions. Last week a TV report out of South Bend, Ind. — citing an anonymous St. Louis source — had Missouri all but signed and sealed as a new member of the Big Ten. A day before, KOMU-TV in Columbia reported that Mizzou to the Big Ten was a “done deal” until taking down the initial story. This week, Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman told the Omaha World-Herald that he anticipated expansion in some form by late summer. On Monday, Link told The Star that expansion could come before the start of this football season. This despite Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany reiterating recently the league’s intent on keeping to a 12- to 18-month investigative timeline, with the clock only having begun to tick in the middle of last December. The effect of this speculative swirl on Missouri athletes and coaches is disparate. “It would surprise me a lot,” said freshman basketball guard Michael Dixon when asked whether he anticipated an announcement by Missouri as early as September. Senior basketball guard J.T. Tiller, meanwhile, said it would not surprise him at all. “We’ve heard the talk,” Tiller said. “It’s everywhere. The more talk you hear the more it is a consideration.” Kim English, a sophomore MU basketball player, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised. I love the Big 12. But I’m just ready to play winning basketball, anywhere. I don’t really care where.” Michelle Collins, a senior on Missouri’s Big 12 champion soccer team — from Naperville, Ill., in the heart of Big Ten country — trusts the MU administration will do the right thing. “As long as Mizzou continues to grow, if moving to the Big Ten helps that notoriety, sure, go for it,” Collins said. “If not, Mizzou athletics is still due for big things.” MU softball coach Ehren Earleywine is one of those who profess a preference for remaining in the Big 12. But Earleywine said, “it wouldn’t surprise me” if MU wound up in the Big Ten sooner than later. “I was just talking to my wife about that,” he said. “I think the talks are getting heated up. At the end of the day, the money is going to do the ultimate talking. It’s going to make the decision. And I think there’s a lot of money to be gained.” One of the most-often-cited examples is that out of the Big 12’s revenue sharing plan for football, Missouri gained $12 million at the last split, while the average payout for the 11 Big Ten teams was more than $21 million. There is still residual resentment at Missouri over the Big 12 allowing the Tigers to be passed over in several recent bowl placements by league teams the Tigers had beaten, particularly a BCS spot in the Orange Bowl that went to Kansas while Missouri went to the Cotton Bowl. But the specifics of why Missouri would be a good fit in the Big Ten are not what is in the air as the 2009-10 school year winds down. Will the Big Ten will extend an invitation that so many contend now will be readily accepted, or is it possible that Missouri might remain in the Big 12? “Honestly, at this point, nothing would surprise me,” said Wayne Kreklow, who along with his wife, Susan, coaches MU volleyball and is the father of incoming freshman basketball player Ricky Kreklow. “There have been so many rumors and stories circulating around. You’ve got all the big conferences positioning for all the what-ifs. “We’re kind of on the sidelines, waiting to see when we’re sent into the game, and when we are, who we’re playing for.”
Posts: 54,038

05-05-2010, 07:10 AM	#683
KChiefs1 I’m a Mahomo! Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Mid-Missouri Casino cash: $6771021	Beebe's task: Fend off Big 12 raiders By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Coumnist BIG 12 Conference commissioner Dan Beebe is the second coming of either Nero or Teddy Roosevelt. Some believe Beebe is fiddling while the Big 12 gets burned by conference raiders who could steal as many as seven league teams. Others contend Beebe, like Roosevelt, is quietly wielding a big club behind the scenes as speculation over conference expansion rages. In the past few days, we've seen the Big East hire former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to look out for its interests, SEC commissioner Mike Slive taunt the Big Ten and commissioner Larry Scott confirm the Pac-10's expansion plans remain on schedule. Expansion hysteria has reached the point where a college football coach called out almighty Notre Dame. Beebe, meanwhile, has made a few flippant remarks on the subject or spoke softly and succinctly about it. The person responsible for this panic is Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. It's Delany's world right now and we're all living and waiting in it. Delany rocked several conferences last December when he confirmed the Big Ten was exploring expansion. The Big Ten has released little information about its plan, other than the process could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months. That hasn't stopped widespread rumors. They range from the Big Ten adding one team or becoming the first super conference with 16 schools. "I tried to put (Delany) in a headlock," joked Beebe when commissioners gathered last month in Scottsdale, Ariz. "But he's a tough guy." Tagliabue doesn't find anything funny about Delany playing kingmaker. Labeling Delany's expansion study as "very disruptive," Tagliabue told the New York Times that "everything outside the Big Ten is held in artificial suspension. "The Big Ten looks at a bunch of choices and everyone else has to deal with the depreciating value and a ton of negativity. I hope there's a better way. Otherwise it's going to have a terrible negative effect on everyone other than the schools in the Big Ten." Speaking to a gathering of Associated Press sports administrators last week, Slive made it clear that the Big Ten isn't about to steamroll the SEC. "If there is going to be a significant shift in the conference paradigm," said Slive, "the SEC will be strategic and thoughtful to make sure it maintains its position as one of the nation's pre-eminent conferences." The conference landscape would experience a monumental shift if the Big Ten adds five teams. Most projections in that scenario have three from the Big East and two from the Big 12 enabling the Big Ten to become the first 16-team league. If that unfolds, some insiders believe the SEC will counter by adding Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M from the Big 12. There's also reports that Colorado and the Pac-10 continue to flirt with each other. Notre Dame could calm the fears of many schools if it would finally accept the Big Ten's invitation. Despite its name, the conference that currently has 11 schools would then have the 12 teams needed to stage a football championship game. Several Big East coaches have reached the point of anger after hearing predictions their league would fold if three schools join the Big Ten. Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce function last week, Connecticut coach Randy Edsall confirmed the anxiety throughout the Big East, which counts Notre Dame as member in every sport but football. Edsall revealed that every Big East football coach has "asked the conference to deliver an ultimatum to Notre Dame to come into the (Big East) for football or get out entirely." Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who finished runner-up when the Big 12 named Beebe commissioner, has said the Irish remain determined to be a football independent. If the Big East or Big Ten can't call Swarbrick's bluff and force the Irish to join one of the conferences as a full member, then Missouri and Nebraska could reportedly receive Big Ten invitations. "I would be negligent not to be concerned," Beebe acknowledged at the commissioners meetings. "I expect that (Delany), who I have known for many, many years and trust implicitly, that he'll do what he said he's going to do. "If and when the time comes that they're going to do anything — and if that includes any of the institutions in the Big 12 — he'll let me know first." Perhaps Delany will keep his word. But Beebe would be wise to remember how eight members of the Western Athletic Conference stunned commissioner Karl Benson and the rest of the league by secretly meeting at the Denver airport in 1998 and voting to abandon the WAC to form the Mountain West Conference. Beebe also believes Delany's contention that the Big Ten's expansion timetable hasn't changed. But others don't buy it, including MWC commissioner Craig Thompson. "I think the timetable has to be a little quicker than that," said Thompson, noting the rules a school must follow to leave a conference. Mike Holder and Joe Castiglione, the respective athletic directors at OSU and OU, are confident Beebe is quietly being proactive to ensure the Big 12 survives. In a February interview on Big12sports.com, Beebe expressed confidence about the conference's future. "I'm pretty comfortable that we're going to have the institutions that we have right now as we go forward," Beebe said. "I think at the end of the day that we're going to be in pretty good shape when all of this settles down." If Beebe doesn't settle things down, he could soon be watching his conference burn down. __________________
Posts: 54,038

05-05-2010, 07:19 AM	#684
duncan_idaho M-I-Z-Z-O-U Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $-1899692	Some random thoughts... Nero is insulted to be compared to a mental midget like Beebe. I can't see Arkansas leaving the money and prestige of the SEC for the collapsing mess that is the Big 12. The Big 12 has stage 4 cancer, guys. It isn't going to make it! __________________ "You gotta love livin', cause dying is a pain in the ass." ---- Sinatra
Posts: 22,321

05-05-2010, 04:28 PM	#689
ChiefsCountry The Insider Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lake of the Ozarks Casino cash: $-1361248	Hey KU fans you might not be left out of the fold just yet if Texas, UCLA, & USC get their way. When the Big Ten expands to 16 look for a new conference out West to emerge. East Texas A&M Oklahoma Kansas Colorado Utah Arizona Arizona State West California Stanford UCLA USC Oregon Oregon State Washington Washington State This new confernece would be basically be a merger between the Big 12 and PAC-10. Ironically it would give that conference fairly close to the same amount of television sets as the new Big Ten.
Posts: 51,990

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