Big 10 Report: Conference Realignment

[Mr. Laz]

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

[Sure-Oz]

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/ju...ad-yet/?sports

Big 12 not dead yet
Source says league could survive, with Oklahoma in North

By Matt Tait

June 14, 2010

A source close to the situation told the Journal-World late Sunday night that the Big 12 Conference appears to have moved closer to an agreement with its remaining schools to keep the league together and that Oklahoma University will move to the North Division.

The source said it was unknown whether the Big 12 would move forward as a 10-member league or if it would look to add two new members to replace Colorado and Nebraska, which left for the Pac-10 and Big Ten, respectively, last week.

Advertisement

The news Sunday flew under the radar of reports out of Texas that said Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott was on a plane bound for Kansas City, Mo., to meet with KU officials.

“That’s a back-up plan,” the source said. “It looks like the Big 12 is staying together.”

The Big 12 appeared to be all but dead just days ago, but a late move by commissioner Dan Beebe might have saved it. Reports indicated that Beebe lobbied hard this weekend with schools in Texas and Oklahoma to convince them to move forward with the Big 12 schools that remained. His selling point was talk of a reworked television deal that would push the per-school payouts to the nearly $17 million annually that’s close to what the SEC pumps out each year and in the neighborhood of what the Pac-10 was eyeing. What’s more, Beebe was reported to have told the University of Texas that it would have permission to proceed with its own network in the future, something the Longhorns have wanted for years.

This news falls in line with what Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione has said all along.

“I understand people are writing this like the ship has sailed and there really isn’t any way the Big 12 could stay together,” Castiglione told The Oklahoman. “I just don’t think this is true. I think there’s still a way for us to stick together and be viable.

“There’s still proof that 11 or 10 teams together can create some significant value — even more than where we are with 12.”

A meeting of the UT regents scheduled for Tuesday likely will go a long way toward determining the outcome, and concerns remain over Texas A&M’s flirtation with the SEC.

[chiefsfan987]

Yeah, but that 17 million dollars if I'm not mistaken comes from an 18 year contract. Who is going to agree to that?

[chiefsfan987]

Yeah, its an 18 year contract.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/06...t-further.html

[DenverChief]

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri curators met behind closed doors Sunday night for the fourth time in as many days as the school turns its attention to saving the Big 12 Conference after its apparent bid to join the Big Ten failed.

The meeting followed two days of discussions in Columbia amid a shifting landscape that saw fellow Big 12 members Colorado and Nebraska bolt for the Pac-10 and Big Ten, respectively.



Missouri was considered one of the top prospects for an expanded Big Ten, and the school could still wind up there as conference realignment continues to unfold.


For now, school officials are publicly pledging their loyalty to a 10-team Big 12 — even as their counterparts in Texas and Oklahoma prepare for their own private meetings this week that could result in an exodus from the conference, with as many as five Big 12 teams possibly headed to the Pac-10.


Chancellor Brady Deaton told alumni in an e-mail he "will do everything possible to assure the success of the conference." He offered similar assurances Sunday night at a crowded news briefing on the steps of University Hall after the one-hour curator meeting, which resulted in no action.


He noted Missouri's century-old history with the schools that form the core of the Big 12 and its predecessors — institutions such as Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State that are also faced with trying to save the conference.


"We have been a proud member of the Big Six, Big Seven and Big Eight, and we continue to take great pride in the accomplishments of the Big 12," Deaton wrote while noting Missouri's role in forming the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907. "Our position as a member for more than 100 years gives us a great appreciation for the tremendous value of our conference and a vital stake in its future."


Those words represent a sharp turn from Missouri's previously stated interest in exploring all its options with conference realignment.
But those earlier flirtations came before Nebraska's departure and assertions from both Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and Big 12 leader Dan Beebe that the oldest conference in Division I sports was not targeting any other Big 12 schools — at least for the time being.
(2 of 2)


Missouri's interest in joining a bigger and broader Big Ten was met with criticism Friday from Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman, who cited public comments by Deaton, Athletics director Mike Alden and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as fodder for the 14-year-old Big 12's possible collapse.



Alden responded by calling such assertions "silly" and "ridiculous." And



University of Missouri system President Gary Forsee said the school bears no blame for simply protecting its self-interest.


"We were only doing what you would expect any institution, whether you're sitting here or in Lawrence, Kan., or Waco, Texas," Forsee said. "Did we contribute more or less than any other institution in the Big 12 or nationally? No. I think we've all been caught up in now this national discussion that certainly has spread beyond the Big Ten, and the Big 12 is certainly in the middle of that."


That would be the 10-team Big 12, as Deaton pointed out after struggling to differentiate Missouri's current home with the now 12-team Big Ten and 11-member Pac-10.


"We're working hard to strengthen the Big 12, or the Big Ten as it is right now. In other words,the 10 institutions left in the Big 12.


"Nomenclature is very difficult in this process," Deaton said.

Previous Page

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/articl...saving-Big-12-

[DenverChief]

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe's plan to save his beleaguered conference reportedly has come to light and is good enough that think tanks at Texas, Texas A&M and elsewhere — including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — are listening.


Meanwhile Sunday, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott continued his whirlwind face-to-face meetings with various members of the Big 12.

On Saturday, Scott boarded a private plane (registered to a University of Oregon booster) in Northern California that made stops in Oklahoma City, College Station, Austin, Lubbock, Austin again, and on Sunday night was scheduled for Kansas City, though the aircraft apparently remained in South Texas.

Scott is meeting with presidents, chancellors and/or athletic directors, though his precise intent hasn't been made known. On Saturday, he met with OU president David Boren and AD Joe Castiglione as well as OSU president Burns Hargis and AD Mike Holder. Oklahoma regents called a special meeting for Wednesday.

Texas and Texas Tech regents meet Tuesday, and
OU and OSU sources have said they will follow Texas' lead. The Big 12's board of regents has a conference call scheduled for Thursday.

Beebe said last week he had spoken with consultants and network analysts who assured him that a renegotiated Big 12 television package would be every bit as lucrative as those in the Big Ten ($22 million per school last year), the SEC ($17 million) and even Scott's proposal for an enlarged Pac-10 ($20-25 million).

On Sunday, Beebe's plan was detailed by Orangebloods.com through unnamed sources. His proposal, starting with a renegotiated deal with Fox Sports Net next year, would pay schools $17 million starting in 2012, according to Orangebloods.com.

Also, Beebe expects to get liquidation penalties from the departure of Colorado and Nebraska — money withheld from those schools' television revenues over the next two years — in excess of $20 million. That money would be distributed to the remaining 10 schools.

And perhaps most significantly, Beebe's plan would allow for schools to pursue their own television networks.

Lastly, a 10-team Big 12 would mean nine scheduled league games, which would alleviate schools having to pay a huge guarantee to try to acquire a fourth nonconference foe.

"My plan is about what's best for the citizens in this part of the country and for the student-athletes and not having this section of the country with all its major institutions connected to conferences that aren't even here," Beebe told Orangebloods.com. "We shouldn't be a fly-over zone."

Another key could be Texas A&M. The Aggies are reportedly split between the Pac-10 and SEC, though AD Bill Byrne, mirroring comments from Texas AD DeLoss Dodds, has said his first priority is to keep the Big 12 together. The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that A&M is expected to choose the SEC, though school spokesman Jason Cook said the Aggies are evaluating and "all options continue to be on the table."

A statement by A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said with the departure of Colorado and Nebraska last week, "the Big 12 is certainly not what it was," and said the school was "aggressively exploring our options, one of which is for the Big 12 to continue in some form," and acknowledged the school has had "extensive discussions with other conferences in the past two days."

SportsIllustrated.com reports that presidents at Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have accepted invitations to appear Wednesday at a hearing before the Texas House of Representatives subcommittee on higher education to "make the case for why change is going to be a good thing," said State Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas).

Late Sunday night, the Austin American Statesman reported that Big 12 schools thinking about leaving for the Pac-10 must wait until after the Texas legislature's hearing, and that the Pac-10 has issued a Friday deadline for schools to decide.

The Kansas City Star on Sunday quoted an unnamed source close to the situation as saying the Big 12's chances are "significantly greater than 24 hours ago."

The Star also reported that officials at Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor voted unanimously via conference call they would prefer to continue in the Big 12.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextr...1_Bigcom200409

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

OU. The most fitting Nebraska replacement.

I still think you kick both of them up to the north and add TCU and Houston to the south or if you could pull off a miracle... get Arkansas and LSU.

That would be a miracle. No school wants to leave the SEC.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade

Utah's ace in the hole is Sen. Hatch, that's the only reason it is a tossup.

Relative to the Pac10, Utah, IMO, is the clear choice over ku. The Pac10 is a football conference and Utah is the much better choice for that. They're also much better location-wise. And, yes, Sen. Hatch would be a good friend for the Pac10 to have.

[the Talking Can]

not sure who is on 810 right now, but he's convinced the "Beebe plan" is real and UT is working hard to make it happen....


i just don't see where the tv money comes from for a 10 team big 12...


edit*

it was chip brown

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

That would be a miracle. No school wants to leave the SEC.

Arkansas might.

They are a proud program, and no matter the $$$, a school like that will get tired of their neighbors hoisting up championship trophies while they celebrate yet another 7-5 season.

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by Sam Hall

I'd rather go to the Mountain West than bow down to Texas.

That is because your team can't beat Texas.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by billay

Pearlman and Osborne are brilliant people.

And they're quite professional too.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

Arkansas might.

They are a proud program, and no matter the $$$, a school like that will get tired of their neighbors hoisting up championship trophies while they celebrate yet another 7-5 season.

Maybe in a normal situation, but I can't see any way Arkansas leaves a very stable spot in the SEC for a potentially crumbling Big 12.

Way too high risk of a move.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Sam Hall

I might be even more baffled that these schools want to keep the conference alive. I'd rather go to the Mountain West than bow down to Texas.

That's because you already have a cushy landing spot.

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Maybe in a normal situation, but I can't see any way Arkansas leaves a very stable spot in the SEC for a potentially crumbling Big 12.

Way too high risk of a move.

True.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by chiefsfan987

Yeah, but that 17 million dollars if I'm not mistaken comes from an 18 year contract. Who is going to agree to that?

This could be Mizzou's last push for a Big10 invite. There has been some speculation that the Big10 was just sitting on the invite seeing how everything plays out because they know they have MU in their back pocket (which is true). If MU says, "Hey, we're about to sign an 18 year contract for just as much $$ as you can offer", maybe it forces the Big10's hand.

Then again, I can't see the MU administration thinking proactively like that and I'm just blindly hoping.