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.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

That conference pride though!

My alma mater has won the SEC regular season title as many time as the rest of the conference. Combined.

That is all.

[Kiimo]

Are you talking about basketball and Kentucky

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

My alma mater has won the SEC regular season title as many time as the rest of the conference. Combined.

That is all.

I wouldn't have much pride at all in SEC basketball... even the Big 12 has like 6 schools with 25+ March Madness bids (not including Mizzou), and the SEC has 3 if you include Mizzou's 28.

UK's bench some years could probably finish top 3 in that conference.

And that's an arbitrary metric, of course, but a metric that a conference could be proud of by saying a large number of teams routinely make the tournament.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I wouldn't have much pride at all in SEC basketball... even the Big 12 has like 6 schools with 25+ March Madness bids (not including Mizzou), and the SEC has 3 if you include Mizzou's 28.

UK's bench some years could probably finish top 3 in that conference.

And that's an arbitrary metric, of course, but a metric that a conference could be proud of by saying a large number of teams routinely make the tournament.

I think it means, something but I don’t know what. It’s still hard to be the best regular season team in a Power 5 conference that many times

Doesn’t mean as much as a title, though.

I view Calipari’s legacy at Kentucky as disappointing if he does not win another title.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

I think it means, something but I don’t know what. It’s still hard to be the best regular season team in a Power 5 conference that many times

Doesn’t mean as much as a title, though.

I view Calipari’s legacy at Kentucky as disappointing if he does not win another title.

Well, if you remove most of Mizzou and A&M's bids from when they earned them in the B12, it would actually make SEC basketball 7th, not top 5... one spot above The American.

[sedated]

PAC releases statement that they are not pursuing expansion at this time.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Well, if you remove most of Mizzou and A&M's bids from when they earned them in the B12, it would actually make SEC basketball 7th, not top 5... one spot above The American.

In terms of bids?

I don’t care about bids. All I care about is titles.

B12 has 3 schools with basketball titles(OK St., KU, Baylor). SEC has 3(Florida, UK, Arkansas).

I don’t see the difference?

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by sedated

PAC releases statement that they are not pursuing expansion at this time.

Well, that is interesting.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by sedated

PAC releases statement that they are not pursuing expansion at this time.

They will revisit it within the next few years when negotiating their new media contract. Theirs goes through 2024. With all the heat the SEC and ESPN is under with OU and Texas, they are going to wait until the dust settles. Big12 rights are still through 2025, so 2021 is pretty premature to make those decisions. The remaining 8 aren’t going to pay all the exit fees that Texas and Oklahoma will have to pay.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

In terms of bids?

I don’t care about bids. All I care about is titles.

B12 has 3 schools with basketball titles(OK St., KU, Baylor). SEC has 3(Florida, UK, Arkansas).

I don’t see the difference?

Well, you also don't know the difference between Kansas basketball and USC basketball, so it's not terribly surprising.

[RustShack]

The real test will be if/when the Big12 moves to expand. Schools that vote no to expansion likely know they have a new home.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Well, you also don't know the difference between Kansas basketball and USC basketball, so it's not terribly surprising.

I know one of them has had a top 6 NBA draft pick in each of the past two years.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

I know one of them has had a top 6 NBA draft pick in each of the past two years.

via GIPHY

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Well, you also don't know the difference between Kansas basketball and USC basketball, so it's not terribly surprising.

*USC Football

[sedated]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

In terms of bids?

I don’t care about bids. All I care about is titles.

B12 has 3 schools with basketball titles(OK St., KU, Baylor). SEC has 3(Florida, UK, Arkansas).

I don’t see the difference?

This is the stupidest way to compare conferences or judge anything.

A team winning one title 50 years ago does not equal sustained recent success. Gonzaga hasn't won a title but has been one of the top programs for the last 20 years - UTEP has a title.