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.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade

I don't think you really get the whole "Sprint Center would no longer be in Big XII Territory" thing if MU leaves. KU, KSU and ISU are not going to fight to keep the secondary tournament revenues in SEC country. It'll move to OKC and you won't hear a voice of dissent from within the Big XII.

You'll be lucky if the SEC holds anything on the fringe of their territory. Perhaps once every four years St. Louis might get the BB Tournament. Why make a bunch of schools who work on eastern time go to a state in the central time zone?

This. Now that Nebraska is gone MU can be a power in the Big 12 athletically like they've never been before. And I don't mean on just on the field, more like location of Big 12 tourney, Arrowhead possibly getting the Big12 FB Champ game again.


Something tells me in the SEC that is going to be quite a challenge.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

You can laugh Wickedson...but if the Big XII implodes and UT and OU take off, Self is gone from KU, and KU will not be able to replace him with a great coach from whatever second tier conference they land in. KU putting BBall ahead of football is going to hurt the Hawks in the end.

I dont disagree...

KU as we know it could be coming to a quick end.. I applaud MU for have a ball sack...

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by Wickedson

What do you want him to say? That he's happy that his school's biggest rival isn't standing strong with them and looking to take any opportunity they can to leave the conference?

Like has been said, the Big 12 will be fine without MU.

The KU-MU tradition and ties with KC will not.

If the KU-MU rivalry dies, that is on KU, since Self is saying he is unwilling to schedule Mizzou, which reeks of spite and envy.

I love how MU should just stay and do whatever KU wants to keep the rivalry going, but KU can't do anything to maintain it. A non-conference game with Mizzou at Sprint Center would be great for KC, and a great recruiting tool for both Self and whomever we get to replace Haith once he is fired.

Or maybe Self is just scared of Mizzou now that it seems Mizzou has grown a pair? Could KU be chicken?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade

Why make a bunch of schools who work on eastern time go to a state in the central time zone?

Most of the SEC is in the Central Time Zone.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by epitome1170

Everyone needs to take a vacation every once in a while to a "foreign country"

And I guess I should have said that if it is going to be in the state at all it would be in STL.

, as I said at the beginning of the other thread, this is going to be fun to watch play out.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by Pants

30 million? Is that per year?

Does the SEC not 3rd Tier rights? If they do, are they all equally shared between schools?

"All of our [football] games belong to the conference package except that we provide one pay-per-view opportunity for each of our institutions on an annual basis," Slive said.

Along with ESPN and CBS, the SEC Network game of the week is in 73 million homes. The league also has cable packages with Comcast and FOX.

"The SEC distributes its revenue from our conference package equally," Slive said. "We have some very minor appearance fees, but they really don't amount to much. For the most part, all of our institutions get the same amount of money from our package."

http://www.aggiesports.com/football/...ething-special

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Wickedson

The KU-MU tradition and ties with KC will not.

Why not? It certainly doesn't HURT KU to play MU in either basketball or football. Why would Self not want to play MU?

[Pants]

Originally Posted by ReeTodd_KC

I dont disagree...

KU as we know it could be coming to a quick end.. I applaud MU for have a ball sack...

Can you please stop with the "ball sack" gibberish? You've been spewing the same stupid thing this whole time. This has nothing to do with having ball sacks, it has everything to do with having offers.

[HolyHandgernade]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

No, I get it. What I posted was just pure specualation and what if. But you can't have it both ways. If KC is a KU town, then this IS BIG XII country, and KU should fight to keep the BBall tourney close to home. If KC is no longer Big XII country, then you have to cede the fact that KC is going to be a Mizzou town.

The SEC tourney in KC would be a long shot. I said that. Anything is possible, and a pitch should be made.

Eastern time to Central time is no big deal. Talking about an hour difference. Eastern time to Pacific time, that is a different story, but I don't folks won't tune into the SEC tourney in St. Louis because it is in the Central time zone. That is just silly.

I guess what I'm saying is if they had built the Sprint Center in Johnson County, then yes, the BB Tournament would stay there. It has nothing to do with the number of fans in KC. The tournament is an economic boon to the city that hosts it, specifically the Power and Light district. So, why give that to a metro area who is in SEC territory. It doesn't make any sense.

I don't say that because I wouldn't love for the Tournament to stay in KC. I don't even live there any longer, but it still has a great place in my heart and this potential move by the Tiger is just going to shred the city of part of its identity.

The time zone thing is important because you are asking the majority of the conference to move to a fringe (and colder) part of the conference. The South doesn't like to do cold.

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by ReeTodd_KC

I dont disagree...

KU as we know it could be coming to a quick end.. I applaud MU for have a ball sack...

As much as I hate KU, I respect Bill Self, I wanted him for Mizzou coach when that opportunity arose.

I also like hating KU as an equal BCS member. I don't want the Hawks in the stupid Missouri Valley or Mountain West. I wanna kick their ass on a big stage.

Celtics fans hate the Lakers, but none of them want the Lakers regulated to the minor leagues.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Pants

Can you please stop with the "ball sack" gibberish? You've been spewing the same stupid thing this whole time. This has nothing to do with having ball sacks, it has everything to do with having offers.

I don't know...it would be easy to be gun shy and play it safe after last year. It is a courageous move. Putting ourselves at risk (again) and moving into a more challenging situation.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

If the KU-MU rivalry dies, that is on KU, since Self is saying he is unwilling to schedule Mizzou, which reeks of spite and envy.

I love how MU should just stay and do whatever KU wants to keep the rivalry going, but KU can't do anything to maintain it. A non-conference game with Mizzou at Sprint Center would be great for KC, and a great recruiting tool for both Self and whomever we get to replace Haith once he is fired.

Or maybe Self is just scared of Mizzou now that it seems Mizzou has grown a pair? Could KU be chicken?

Yeah, that must be it. KU is scared of Mizzou BB.

Actually he is probably looking at it like he does a game against WSU. Everything to lose, and nothing to gain. He plays MU now, because it is in conference.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

I agree, and it wouldn't hurt KU in recruiting. Of course, it wasn't difficult to see the butthurt in Self's quote either.

KU basketball is going to be fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have already begun a gradual decline. I don't think it's going to be a huge decline, but the SEC is now on KU's doorstep, and that does hurt. I promise you that the B1G is pissed that the SEC/B1G border just went from about 200 miles to 1000 miles overnight.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

If the KU-MU rivalry dies, that is on KU, since Self is saying he is unwilling to schedule Mizzou, which reeks of spite and envy.

I love how MU should just stay and do whatever KU wants to keep the rivalry going, but KU can't do anything to maintain it. A non-conference game with Mizzou at Sprint Center would be great for KC, and a great recruiting tool for both Self and whomever we get to replace Haith once he is fired.

Or maybe Self is just scared of Mizzou now that it seems Mizzou has grown a pair? Could KU be chicken?

Self wants a opponent to respect and stand strong with an institution that has a history of over 100 years together.

KU is willing to do that and make the Big12 work.

You all can laugh at KU about how "no one wants them" but the fact of whether or not that is true cannot be known because KU knows that it's strongest position here in a conference that is based here... not Atlanta, not San Francisco, etc etc

[cookster50]

Originally Posted by Pants

Yeah, I was totally understanding MU wanting to leave to the SEC before the shared revenue and rights surrender deal came out. Seems kinda weird now.

How about this, maybe MU doesn't want to go through this same scenario year after year after year? Think about that? Don't leave now, SEC picks another team, no more chance to move to the SEC. This is about having an option to move and doing it now rather than wait for the inevitable implosion and being left with no good options later.