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.
Originally Posted by alnorth:
how in the holy hell do you expect kids in Texas or the deep south to go to Columbia, other than being a talent that virtually no one else in the SEC wants?
You think you can win in the SEC with just Missouri kids?
So kids from Texas will sign with Mizzou because they want exposure in their home state, but kids from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, etc absolutely will not do the same.
Originally Posted by alnorth:
Well, the problem is that I don't think Mizzou can even be Arkansas, which would be their absolute improbable ceiling. In the Big 12 north they have the potential to be quite a bit better than Arkansas.
al, you're one of my favorite posters because of our shared passion for the Royals, but you need to cover up here; your KU is showing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Yup - how freakin' great is that guy going to be to have around?
It won't help. Mizzou is doomed. The phenomenal facilities, coupled with the move to a conference that produces more NFL talent than any other, are going to make it difficult to overcome counter-recruiting tactics. [Reply]
The thing is Gary Pinkel is the big one behind the SEC push. He knows damn well that he can stay in the Big 12 cruise through the new Big 12 North with Louisville and Cincinnati as new rivals along with KU, KSU, and ISU. Play Oklahoma or Texas in the Big 12 championship game about every year and have a pretty good shot at BCS Bowl and 10 wins each year, and still recruit Texas like crazy. And with all of that, he still wants to take the program to the SEC. That should tell you something right there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Yup - how freakin' great is that guy going to be to have around?
The 2010 class was arguably the best in the program's history and it had his fingerprints all over it.
Like I said - I'm really not worried about recruiting. Come what may, this staff has shown an incredible ability to make it work.
Also, from all reports, Pinkel is leading the internal push to go. I don't see him pushing to go to the SEC if he did not think Mizzou could be successful there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by alnorth:
Your second sentence presumes your recruiting won't take a major hit. It will. Missouri will have a far better chance at a championship in the Big 12, not because of the competition, but because they won't be able to convince as many high schoolers to go to Columbia if they are in the SEC.
Now this I totally agree with. No way does a Texas kid pass up a chance to play in Provo, Ames, Lawrence, Manhattan, and Morgantown to play Georgia, LSU, Tenn, Bama, Florida, Auburn.
Why would a kid from Texas want to play a game in December in Gainesville where its 65 degrees when he could play in Ames where its 20 below with the wind chill?
Why would fans want to party on Bourbon Street on Friday night before playing at LSU when they could hit up BWW on Mass street before playing beaks? [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP:
Question for you: Who has a better football program right now, West Virginia or Missouri?
right now? Probably WVU, but Mizzou could pass them soon. The Big East is dead. If WVU is left out of conference realignment, they are dead in the water. [Reply]
Originally Posted by alnorth:
how in the holy hell do you expect kids in Texas or the deep south to go to Columbia, other than being a talent that virtually no one else in the SEC wants?
You think you can win in the SEC with just Missouri kids?