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

[teedubya]

Can we change the THREAD title, please?

Big 10 Report: Nebraska to leave Big 12 for Big 10

[kepp]

Originally Posted by WildTurkey

I'm enjoying it.... so it's not a total fail

Exactly like Borat

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by billay

This might be a stupid question but why stress? KU has ran through the confrence in basketball the last five years or so. Even if they did go to a lesser confrence they'll still get good players and be a basketball powerhouse. The only thing it hurts is the football team but I thought nobody cared much about KU football?

that's just stupid ... you really can't be THAT dense, can you?


"only thing it hurts is the football .." means that a school will have to cut the budget in EVERY sport.

"lesser conference ..." means less t.v. exposure and recruiting slowly erodes until the team has trouble competition and the whole thing starts falling apart.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by teedubya

Can we change the THREAD title, please?

Big 10 Report: Nebraska to leave Big 12 for Big 10

Or "Big 10 Report: WTF?"

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Laz

shit ... Nebraska is not what they once were

until last year they kinda sucked

i hope the Big 10 makes them their bitch

It's not like they were worldbeaters last year, either. And the biggest piece of their defensive success will be suiting up for the Lions next fall.

However, I think Nebraska will be a force in the Big 10 - they don't have anybody on the level of Texas or Oklahoma.

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by billay

This might be a stupid question but why stress? KU has ran through the confrence in basketball the last five years or so. Even if they did go to a lesser confrence they'll still get good players and be a basketball powerhouse. The only thing it hurts is the football team but I thought nobody cared much about KU football?

Hey now.
I have season football tickets. We don't show like NU but their are plenty of KU football fans.

[Mr. Laz]

If KU doesn't end up in a BCS level conference then the President and Athletic director at KU should be fired. Immediately.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Laz

that's just stupid ... you really can't be THAT dense, can you?


"only thing it hurts is the football .." means that a school will have to cut the budget in EVERY sport.

"lesser conference ..." means less t.v. exposure and recruiting slowly erodes until the team has trouble competition and the whole thing starts falling apart.

Yea Memphis has had alot of trouble getting good recruits

[teedubya]

Chip Brown
Orangebloods.com Columnist

Talk about it in Inside the 40 Acres
A source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents told Orangebloods.com the regents met informally Wednesday and have agreed to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday.

Sources close to Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have suggested to Orangebloods.com over the last week that if Nebraska leaves, the Big 12 can't be saved.

A Fox television report out of Ohio said Nebraska now has an invitation from the Big Ten.

One of the reasons given for Nebraska's importance to the league is because the relationship between Missouri and the rest of the Big 12 has soured beyond repair.

And to complicate matters for Missouri, the Tigers appear to be falling down the list of priorities for the Big Ten.

An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten said, "Missouri is getting cold shoulder from Big Ten."

Joe Schad of ESPN reported Wednesday that the Big Ten list of interest for expansion goes like this: 1) Notre Dame 2) Nebraska 3) Rutgers and/or Maryland.


Associated Press

Dan Beebe and the Big 12 appear to be at the mercy of Nebraska and other outside forces.
According to a story by Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald, a respected reporter covering the Big 12 for years, Nebraska is expected to leave for the Big Ten as early as Friday, according to information provided to Barfknecht by an executive at another Big 12 school.

That is the day Nebraska's regents have a formal meeting in Lincoln.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne on his monthly radio show on the Husker Sports Network said he hoped "to get things together in the next few days."

But Osborne acknowledged, "There's a lot of information we really don't have right now."

Here's his entire quote:

"I suppose there is quite a bit I can speculate on, but as you and I talked before the show came on there's a lot of information we really don't have right now," Osborne said.

"Hopefully we'll get things put together in the next few days. Anything I would say regarding Nebraska's position or other schools in the Big 12 right now would be pure speculation at this point and I don't think that's very helpful. As much as I know fans don't like it, I think we need to put certain things off limits.

"I think before too long, I don't know exactly what that time frame is, but we'll be able to put this thing to bed because I'm getting tired of it."


BIG 12's FINAL SUPPER ON JUNE 14?

Two different executives in the Big 12 confirmed to Orangebloods.com Wednesday morning the hard deadline for Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and the entire Big 12 to pledge their allegiance to each other is Monday, June 14.

A high-level executive at a Big 12 institution said there have been informal conversations about who to add to the Big 12 if schools start to leave. Those schools have included BYU and Air Force.

But that same executive as well as others in the Big 12 South have told Orangebloods.com the conference will not survive if Nebraska leaves - no matter who else stays or goes.

If Nebraska were to stay in the Big 12 and Missouri and Colorado were to leave, for example, the sense is the Big 12 could attempt to add schools like BYU and Air Force to the Big 12 North and move ahead.


TEXAS AND TEXAS A&M MEET THURSDAY

In a related development, a legislative source with knowledge of Texas A&M said officials from A&M and Texas will meet on Thursday to discuss all the goings on and to make sure they are on the same page if the Big 12 falls apart. The source said, however, that Texas and Texas A&M remain steadfast in lobbying for the Big 12 to stay together.


NOTRE DAME'S CALL

The future of the Big 12 appeared to hinge on the Big Ten's deliberations with Notre Dame. The Big Ten has promised Notre Dame it will stop its expansion at 12 schools if Notre Dame agrees to finally forgo its independence and become part of a conference, an athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten has told Orangebloods.com.

Notre Dame is apparently locked in a battle among its Board of Trustees about what to do. There are some who fear the Irish being left out of the formation of what could well become four, super conferences in college athletics. That could cost Notre Dame its access to a BCS bid.

The Big Ten has also given indications it will go east and possibly raid anywhere from one to three schools from the Big East, where Notre Dame plays its other sports, leaving the Irish scrambling even more.

In the ultimate irony, the only way Notre Dame may be able to avoid the super conference scenario is by doing what it least wants to do: give up its independence and lucrative NBC/Comcast contract and join a conference.

Sources have told Orangebloods.com the Big Ten would not be handing out any more invitations if Notre Dame agrees to join the league. An AD source reaffirmed to Orangebloods.com Wednesday that "there is a timeline involved" between Notre Dame and the Big Ten.

Joe Schad of ESPN reported this week Notre Dame doesn't appear to be budging.

The longer there is silence about Notre Dame's intentions, the more reason to believe Notre Dame could remain on its own.


COLORADO'S BAD TIMING

In another development, one source inside the Big 12 told Orangebloods.com Tuesday Colorado was expected to have a major announcement as early as Wednesday. But that announcement turned out to be with regard to scholarship reductions for the Colorado football and basketball programs because of substandard NCAA APR (Academic Progress Rates).

CU is the only BCS football program to be sanctioned with scholarship reductions and is one of only two BCS basketball programs to get sanctioned, OB has learned.

The Buffaloes have already served the four scholarships it was docked for football and the one it was docked for basketball.

The timing is poor considering the school's possible courtship with some of the more high-minded academic institutions in the Pac-10.

The Boulder Daily Camera reported a regents meeting at CU Tuesday night produced nothing more than legal advice about different scenarios. CU officials said they have not yet received an invitation from the Pac-10, according to the report.

Despite that claim, speculation continues to swirl that Colorado could be preparing to accept a bid from the Pac-10 Conference, which has targeted the Buffaloes for expansion.

As Orangebloods.com first reported last Thursday, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott's preference is to expand the Pac-10 by six schools. That original list included Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado.


BAYLOR'S FIGHT FACING RESISTANCE?

Since that report legislators and lobbyists with loyalty to Baylor have launched an all-out effort in the Texas Legislature to ensure that Baylor remains with the rest of the Big 12 South if it were to move to the Pac-10.

One top source close to the possible merger between the Pac-10 and six Big 12 schools said some schools in the Pac-10, including California-Berkeley, have a real issue with adding an institution with religious ties like Baylor to the conference.


GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION?

It has been expressed to Orangebloods.com by a top collegiate executive that any movement toward four, 16-team super conferences will be met with resistance by Congress.

The executive said that could be bad news for college athletics because Congress has already taken some cursory looks at the fact athletic departments enjoy a tax-exempt status as part of their universities.

The executive said if it appears the rich are getting richer in college athletics, there will be a hard look at whether to take away the tax exempt status of athletic departments.

"And it won't just be Orin Hatch (a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee from Utah and longtime BCS critic) looking into this," the source said.
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1092612

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by billay

I hope Nebraska beats the **** out of them to add insult to injury.

Pffft...if this goes through, don't expect Nebraska to get a single call in their favor all season long.

Originally Posted by Laz

if Notre Dame doesn't join a conference they will continue to die a slow death in football imo

And the problem with that is....?

Originally Posted by kepp

Or "Big 10 Report: WTF?"

Yeah, that about sums this whole cluster**** up.

[ArrowheadHawk]

Originally Posted by kepp

Or "Big 10 Report: WTF?"

How bout "Conference Realignment Repository"?

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by billay

This might be a stupid question but why stress? KU has ran through the confrence in basketball the last five years or so. Even if they did go to a lesser confrence they'll still get good players and be a basketball powerhouse. The only thing it hurts is the football team but I thought nobody cared much about KU football?

Nebraska sure did when they scored 76 points on them

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

Hey now.
I have season football tickets. We don't show like NU but their are plenty of KU football fans.

And does KU have much of a chance to be dominate in the current confrence? Whats to say they go to the Mountain West and be like Utah? it's a possibility.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by Laz

If KU doesn't end up in a BCS level conference then the President and Athletic director at KU should be fired. Immediately.

They will, don't worry.

Keitzman is saying ACC.

He may be wishful thinking but "sometimes" he's right.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by Wickedson

They will, don't worry.

Keitzman is saying ACC.

He may be wishful thinking but "sometimes" he's right.

BTW- I would LOVE to play in the ACC...