New Conference re-alignment thread

[Saulbadguy]

The old one has AIDS.

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.

Stay tuned.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Hearing all the SEC chatter down here in the heart of SEC country, I'm 90% sure that the SEC had heavy interest in Mizzou.

I'm happy. My preference has been what is better for Kansas City over what is better for the University of Missouri. Mizzou staying in the Big XII, with equal revenue sharing, is best for KC.

(and doesn't preclude a future jump to the Big 10 lolololololol)

That seems to be a minority opinion among Mizzou fans, but that's where I'm at too.

[DaKCMan AP]

I'm not buying this WVU to the SEC noise. I guess we'll see if there's an announcement on Wednesday but right now there are more reasons why the SEC wont add and doesn't want WVU than there are reasons for WVU to the SEC to be true.

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by Guru

Can we update the OP to show what the playing field looks like today? Or is it all still just a bunch of speculation.

Mainly speculation.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KCrockaholic

I was really hoping for Mizzou to go to the SEC. Disappointment to me.

Its not a done deal, just mb and twitter chatter. No one knows how good these WVU sources are, and no bigtime legit media is jumping on this yet.

[eazyb81]

Delay the parade for now, SWCjr fans.

973espn 97.3 ESPN FM
There is nothing concrete as of yet, as I said...hearing #WVU people, the hope from the WVU people is that this will get done.

[eazyb81]

LOL, you can't make this shit up.

The Big 12's new commissioner Chuck Neinas, who was supposed to replace the previous UT puppet Dan Beebe, is entering into a new sports joint venture with - you guessed it - UT AD Deloss Dodds.

The dude has been on the job for less than a week and has already made it clear he is another UT-appointed puppet.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201....ap/index.html

Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas and Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds will be among the current college administrators serving as advisers in a new venture by a sports consulting firm designed to provide one-stop shopping for athletic programs looking for guidance.


JMI Sports LLC has started the JMI Sports College Division, which will provide universities assistance with everything from finding a new coach to finding a new conference, from dealing with NCAA issues to building a new stadium.


JMI Sports is a San Diego-based firm that assists professional and college teams expand or build sports venues. It was co-founded by John Moores, owner and chairman of the San Diego Padres, and Erik Judson.


Jeff Schemmel, the former athletic director at San Diego State, was hired to be managing director of JMI's college division.

[kstater]

@CNeinas chuck neinas
When I ran the Big 8, Missouri wasn't so uppity. Maybe it's been all of the success in softball. But it's kind of annoying.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by kstater

@CNeinas chuck neinas
When I ran the Big 8, Missouri wasn't so uppity. Maybe it's been all of the success in softball. But it's kind of annoying.

[DaKCMan AP]

College Football Surrenders to the SEC

The rest of college football formally surrendered to the Southeastern Conference Sunday, ending a decades-long war that had become hopelessly one-sided.

The surrender took place just outside Appomattox, Va. SEC officials declined to explain why this site was chosen.

"What began 85 years ago in Pasadena has been finished today," the SEC said in a statement, referring to Alabama's 1926 Rose Bowl victory over Washington, which established Southern schools as a threat. "This is our sport now."

The commissioners of major-college football's other 10 conferences made the decision to capitulate in an emergency conference call Saturday night, following LSU's 47-21 demolition of West Virginia. The rout was the latest in a series of unfortunate encounters between SEC schools and supposedly quality opponents, including LSU-Oregon Sept. 3, Alabama-Michigan State in January and the last five national-title games, only one of which was in doubt at the end.

The terms of the surrender were released by the SEC. They include a number of reforms that seek to restore some dignity to the rest of college football, while giving the SEC its proper due:

The national championship: The Bowl Championship Series title game will continue to be held, but just as a matter of ceremony and to stimulate the economy. The real national-championship game will be designated each year by the SEC. This year it's LSU at Alabama, Nov. 5.

National-championship rematches: The SEC also reserves the right to campaign for an LSU-Alabama rematch in the BCS "title" game if the initial meeting is close and there are no other undefeated major-conference schools at season's end. The rest of college football will not bring up 2006, when SEC partisans pilloried the idea of an Ohio State-Michigan title-game rematch.

The No. 1 ranking: The rest of college football will concede that Oklahoma is not the nation's best team, even though the Sooners were the preseason No. 1, are 3-0 and have won the hardest true road game thus far (at then-No. 5 Florida State). LSU is now No. 1 in the Associated Press rankings, having done even more (beating Oregon in Dallas and West Virginia on the road).

Roster management: SEC programs will conduct seminars on how to use oversigning to build a better roster.

The chant: The SEC will ask its fans to wait until game's end to start chanting "S-E-C!", after the TV cameras have been turned off and the defeated team's fans have filed out of the stadium. This provision was issue No. 1 on the non-Southern schools' agenda. "Our alumni all across the country say the same thing," said an official representing the other major conferences. "Make it stop."

Realignment: West Virginia will remain in the Big East now that it knows what it would be getting into in the SEC. Texas A&M is still welcome to join, and Missouri may be considered as well, although both schools have been reminded that they would be forfeiting the right to ever win another conference championship in football, considering they can't even win an inferior Big 12. (A&M's chances of winning its first Big 12 title since 1998 took a serious hit in the Aggies' 30-29 come-from-ahead loss Saturday to Oklahoma State.)

Revenue sharing: The SEC will seize some TV revenue from the Pac-12, which has somehow wound up getting an average of $250 million annually from ESPN and Fox, while the average annual value of the SEC's deals with ESPN and CBS is about $205 million—even though the SEC has won an unprecedented five straight national titles.

Academics: Supporters of Pac-12, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference schools will stop playing the academics card—that is, that their schools rank higher in research expenditures and reputation than the SEC's do.

Arkansas-Ohio State: Although Ohio State's 2011 Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas has been vacated because of the Buckeyes' rules violations, and even though Arkansas is no Florida or LSU (i.e., the sort of A-list peer Ohio State should aspire to beat), the SEC will permit Buckeye fans to fondly remember that game. (Although OSU's official bowl record against the SEC remains 0-9.)

The SEC's programs hailed the surrender as a long-overdue acknowledgment of their obvious superiority. The non-Southern teams expressed relief that the nonconference portion of the season is basically over, and that the sides won't meet again for the most part until December and January.

The surrender was quickly ratified by 107 of the 108 non-SEC schools, with Boise State abstaining.

Write to Darren Everson at Darren.Everson@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...=djemMTIPOFF_h

[brett]

hahaha the old one has aids, that cracked me up.

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by kstater

@CNeinas chuck neinas
When I ran the Big 8, Missouri wasn't so uppity. Maybe it's been all of the success in softball. But it's kind of annoying.

[mnchiefsguy]

After reading that the new Big 12 commish is going into business with the Texas AD...screw it, Mizzou just needs to leave. Too much UT incest going on in this conference.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

After reading that the new Big 12 commish is going into business with the Texas AD...screw it, Mizzou just needs to leave. Too much UT incest going on in this conference.

I think "going into business with" is a little too strong for what is going on there. I'm not even sure it's a new thing. They're both advisors to someone else's business along with several commissioners, ADs, and other college sports figures. I don't know exactly what the arrangement is, but it looks a little like serving on a Board of Directors more than being a party of a business and sharing the profits.

It would be pretty surprising if the other schools in the conference weren't aware of this when they asked Neinas to act as interim commissioner.

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

It's quite hilarious that most of us -KSU fans- just want you mutts to make your move so we don't have to listen to you cry about UT, OU, Brady Deaton, LHN, and any and all other aspects of the conference that makes you poor bitches unhappy.

Cry the big cry, sisters of the confederacy.

This.

It amazes me how MU fans want to bitch about Texas and the deal they have when it was Mizzou who gave them the opportunity to get that deal by starting this whole debacle last year.

I've wanted the conference to stay together because it was the best possible scenario for KSU. Now I'm just about to the point I want to see it gone because tired of all the jealousy, inferiority complexes and bickering.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I think "going into business with" is a little too strong for what is going on there. I'm not even sure it's a new thing. They're both advisors to someone else's business along with several commissioners, ADs, and other college sports figures. I don't know exactly what the arrangement is, but it looks a little like serving on a Board of Directors more than being a party of a business and sharing the profits.

It would be pretty surprising if the other schools in the conference weren't aware of this when they asked Neinas to act as interim commissioner.

Would you not agree that even the potential appearance of impropriety is a poor sign given the current Big 12 mess and the common theory that the prior Big 12 Commissioner was a UT puppet?

I don't think the news is a conviction of Neinas, but I do think the timing is terrible for this to make the public rounds.