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.

[louie aguiar]

The seemingly inevitable collapse of the Big 12 sucks for KC college sports fans. As a mizzou fan, I understood the move to the SEC but hated losing the rivalries and the local games. Losing the B12 tourney will suck.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

The idea Cali schools want these crappy Plains programs is too laughable for me to believe.

If Kansas ever did leave, I’d lose a lot of interest in their games. Playing long term opponents in our region is half the fun of watching and I know a lot of folks from all these local schools.

The PAC is also the 5th best P5 conference. So, yeah it would make sense they want to add schools and stay alive. Especially if you’re getting multiple long travel schools who can be in their own division.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Iowa State is very attractive if you think like an University president would. Very good academic school with research. Great fan base, good facilities all around.

Iowa State adds ZERO in terms of television.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Iowa State adds ZERO in terms of television.

Media markets was so 10 years ago. It’s the streaming age. I bet Iowa State fans would stream more games than Rutgers fans. Cord cutting isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Same winning percentage conference wise as they had in the Big 12 with the same number of conference championship game appearances. Program is the same just in more a secure conference.

Mizzou Football recruiting is better than ever. Mizzou Basketball recruiting is hot garbage.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by RustShack

Media markets was so 10 years ago. It’s the streaming age. I bet Iowa State fans would stream more games than Rutgers fans. Cord cutting isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

That's not getting you into the Big Ten. Of course, nothing is.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

That's not getting you into the Big Ten. Of course, nothing is.

Yeah it would probably be the AAU status that does.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

The seemingly inevitable collapse of the Big 12 sucks for KC college sports fans. As a mizzou fan, I understood the move to the SEC but hated losing the rivalries and the local games. Losing the B12 tourney will suck.

$20M annual economic benefit to KC. Definitely would suck to lose that.

[KCWolfpack]

Aren't OU and OSU basically considered a package deal at this point? I don't necessarily mean with the schools themselves so much as with certain political elements within the state of Oklahoma.

Some expansion history might be in order here to explain this. When the ACC expanded in 2004, their original intention was to take Miami, Syracuse, and Boston College (only God knows why). The ACC at the time had 9 schools and 7 had to agree for expansion to happen. UNC and Duke were already hard NOs because they thought it would upset their BB apple cart. However, elements in the Virginia legislature friendly to VaTech started threatening to cut UVA's general funding if they agreed to any plan that left VaTech out in the cold. Since that made UVA a NO, the whole expansion plan had to be rethought. As you can guess, the new plan included inviting VaTech.

The point of all this is: Could OSU-friendly elements in OK's govt start making threats like this against OU if they do anything to screw over OSU in this? When legislators start threatening a state school's funding for any reason, that school's administrators definitely start paying attention! But would it have any effect?

[Jerm]

Legislation isn’t stopping this lol…OU will tell them to get ****ed, they’re going.

[TribalElder]

OU would probably make up the money in football revenue

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Jerm

Legislation isn’t stopping this lol…OU will tell them to get ****ed, they’re going.

Texas state Gov't is already working on legislation. They said a few people on 40 acres in Austin are not going to determine the fate of something as important as the University of Texas and its future and affiliations.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Stewie

Texas state Gov't is already working on legislation. They said a few people on 40 acres in Austin are not going to determine the fate of something as important as the University of Texas and its future and affiliations.

Governor is a UT alum. He'll just kill any legislation that actually finds some way to make it to his desk

[Prison Bitch]

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Stewie

Texas state Gov't is already working on legislation. They said a few people on 40 acres in Austin are not going to determine the fate of something as important as the University of Texas and its future and affiliations.