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

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by alanm

It's a sad day for sure. I'm on the fence about the move to the Big 10. Beebe should be shitcanned tomorrow.

This. The Big 12 should have been the one looking to expand not the other way around. Lack of TV contracts killed this league.

[alanm]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Bull. Shit.

When Tom Osborne came out and took unsolicited shots and the conference and MU in particular, there was no 'looking out for his best interests', it was him being a malicious asshole.

When Beebe came out and lobbed bombs at MU, that was malice.

I'm having not a single bit of trouble being ****ing livid at a handful of people, schools and states generally.

I didn't hear Osborne mention any school by name. I did hear him say that everyone was telling them to stay but those same schools were talking to up to 3 conferences about moving themselves. So it sent mixed signals to the Regents and Osborne. And yet people here blame Nebraska for accepting the Big 10's invite. Nebraska was totally upfront about what they were doing.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by alanm

It's a sad day for sure. I'm on the fence about the move to the Big 10. Beebe should be shitcanned tomorrow.

meh ... he's just a puppet for the school just like the guy before him and the guy after him would be.

Texas having too much power is the problem ... and the rest of the schools not working together to balance the Texas power.

[ArrowheadHawk]

I have read rumors today about KU going to just about every bcs conference. I just hope that one of them pans out and at the very least we can play MU and KSU in the noncon if need be. At least then there would be no cupcake schedules.

[ArrowheadHawk]

On another note: Do the USC sanctions make the Pac 10 look a lot less apealing?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

I have read rumors today about KU going to just about every bcs conference. I just hope that one of them pans out and at the very least we can play MU and KSU in the noncon if need be. At least then there would be no cupcake schedules.

PAC 10 is a definite possibility if aTm goes to the SEC. The Big East is another strong possibility. After that, there are a few un-credible crazy whispers about the SEC, but nothing much else yet.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

On another note: Do the USC sanctions make the Pac 10 look a lot less apealing?

No.

[KcMizzou]

It's not surprising that the Big 12... The conference from the "fly over" states, is the one to get picked apart when the shit goes down.

(Not that the Big XII wasn't broken in the first place.)

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by alnorth

PAC 10 is a definite possibility if aTm goes to the SEC. The Big East is another strong possibility. After that, there are a few un-credible crazy whispers about the SEC, but nothing much else yet.

SEC is crazy but a KU vs UK matchup every season would be off the hook.

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

It's not surprising that the Big 12... The conference from the "fly over" states, is the one to get picked apart when the shit goes down.

(Not that the Big XII wasn't broken in the first place.)

****ing coastal bias.

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

No.

Just checking.

[teedubya]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

There are 67 BCS schools right now. If it goes to four 16 team "Super Conferences", we're looking at 3 left out.

And you have to figure Memphis may get brought in the mix somewhere.

So, I'm thinking maybe 4.

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by teedubya

And you have to figure Memphis may get brought in the mix somewhere.

So, I'm thinking maybe 4.

As long as one of thos is not KU I'm cool.

[WildTurkey]

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

SEC is crazy but a KU vs UK matchup every season would be off the hook.

How epic would that rivalry be... holy shit.... JIMP

[alanm]

Barfknecht: Battle came down to TV rights

By Lee Barfknecht
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU


LINCOLN — Come to find out that on the subject of conference realignment, it was Texas that was all hat and no cattle.
For weeks, as rumors erupted nationally about schools wanting to change leagues, high-ranking UT officials repeatedly said their No. 1 priority was to keep the Big 12 intact.
Then, at the recent league meetings, the Longhorns' own loyalty was tested.
The challenge came from Nebraska, which was under internal league pressure to pledge its own deep allegiance to the Big 12.

“There is only one way that you can truly commit long-term to a conference,'' NU Chancellor Harvey Perlman said. “You assign the media rights to your athletic contests to the conference for the long term.''
Perlman asked if all Big 12 schools would be willing to do that.

Texas, which has been drooling over the projected money it might make from creating its own TV network, balked.

In fact, Perlman said, UT “made it clear they were not willing to do that.''

In a nutshell, you now know why Nebraska joined the Big Ten on Friday and turned away from a continuous line of athletic alliances — the Missouri Valley, the Big Six, the Big Seven, the Big Eight and the Big 12 — it had been a part of for 103 years.

The jungle-like landscape that college athletics has turned into the past 25 years over the scramble for TV money is only getting more dense and dangerous.

Finding long-term stability and cooperation, while still competing at a high level, is the true golden ticket.
Nebraska couldn't find that mix in the Big 12.

Missouri, from the time Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany revealed in December that his league wanted to expand, campaigned long and loud for a spot there. Colorado has had regular dalliances with the Pacific 10, and consummated that relationship Thursday by accepting that league's invitation.

And Texas has been the subject of speculation during the 14-year history of the Big 12 as a candidate for the Pac-10, Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences.

Nebraska put its fellow Big 12 members on the spot, too, when reports were acknowledged during the league meetings that six schools were in talks with the Pac-10.

Perlman and Athletic Director Tom Osborne asked if Missouri or Colorado left, would the other six stay in the Big 12. Those six said yes.

But when the six were asked if they would stay if both MU and CU left, there was no commitment.

On Wednesday, Perlman talked by phone with Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe. The conversation didn't go well.

Perlman was told he needed to make an “unequivocal, total commitment'' to stay in the Big 12 through at least 2016. (That date is key because that is when the Big 12's current ABC/ESPN broadcast deal expires).

“Neither Tom nor I thought that was a very long-term commitment to the Big 12,'' Perlman said. “And we thought that our obligation to the University of Nebraska was to protect it from the vulnerabilities of being without a conference altogether.''

So much for the idea that Nebraska was a premier member of the Big 12. The Huskers hardly could have been big-timed more than they were in the past 10 days.

Will things be better in the Big Ten?

Things were all smiles and handshakes Friday when Delany arrived in Lincoln for the welcome press conference.

He talked of the culture fit. He talked of how revenue is distributed evenly. He smartly noted that Nebraska has suffered in the past from being on the losing end of 11-1 votes on major issues in the Big 12.

“I can count on one hand the number of votes I can recall in the past 10 years,'' Delany said. “Sometimes we have some good knockdown drag-outs.

“For the most part, our people in the minority, when a majority emerges, they get it in the long run.''

Everyone involved Friday was drinking information out of a fire hose. There was a lot to swallow in a short period of time.

But Nebraska to the Big Ten just feels right. The Huskers have nothing to lord over the Big 12, and nothing to apologize for in leaving.

NU wins academically. NU wins athletically. NU wins financially. And NU never has to fear conference realignment again. It's a deal any school in the country would have made.

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