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 TomBarndtsTwin:
Lol. Where they think they're gonna go?
Doubt the SEC is interested after all the bitching and moaning they did with the CFP.
And that's the only conference that makes sense regionally for them.
I am going to assume that FSU has some sort of under the table assurance from the Big 10 or SEC that they’d get offered membership, otherwise it would be pretty dumb of them to destroy the ACC without a legit alternative option. [Reply]
The idea that the SEC would be butthurt over some past spat with FSU enough to decline the massive amounts of money it would mean to admit them is silly. Every dispute has a solution and the solution always comes in green. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88:
I am going to assume that FSU has some sort of under the table assurance from the Big 10 or SEC that they’d get offered membership, otherwise it would be pretty dumb of them to destroy the ACC without a legit alternative option.
Hey, what can you tell us about Corey Flagg, Jr? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brother:
Lives in Missouris asshole, yet roots for a team in Kansas with zero affiliation to the program or state. Makes more sense than that :-)
KC is the asshole???? That's the joke on a Chiefs board???? Ferguson types running down a beautiful city just doesn't play well. You almost pulled it off, but just not quite there...
Originally Posted by Old Dog:
Respectfully, I don't think that's even close to a necessity anymore
Well, yes and no.
Gonna be hard to recruit in Florida and sell parents on it if you're not in ACC or SEC. Trying to sell HS coaches, parents, guardians on BIG10 is gonna be a tough sell. And, yeah, Big 12 has UCF, but that's a one off. And, being honest here, ACC to Big 12 is a lateral move, so why even bother if you're FSU?
It's stay where you're at, BIG10, SEC or bust . . . . [Reply]
Originally Posted by Eleazar:
The idea that the SEC would be butthurt over some past spat with FSU enough to decline the massive amounts of money it would mean to admit them is silly. Every dispute has a solution and the solution always comes in green.
It's more than that. FSU has been throwing darts at the SEC for a while and I'm pretty confident FSU is gonna have a much tougher time recruiting against Georgia, Bama (and Florida, to some degree) for SEC recruits than they do Clemson and Miami now . . . . . . [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brother:
Lives in Missouris asshole, yet roots for a team in Kansas with zero affiliation to the program or state. Makes more sense than that :-)
Does it make a fan any less of a fan by not going to school there? Never understodd that at all. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TambaBerry:
Does it make a fan any less of a fan by not going to school there? Never understodd that at all.
Peej grew up in East St Louis where it's Cardinals baseball first and foremost, then latched onto the Chiefs for whatever reason when he had a perfectly good Rams team to cheer for. Since he was already straddling both sides of the state he went down the middle and chose mu for his college team. It was most likely forced on him by a family member, nobody chooses that mutt life. Luckily my dad only gave a shit about the Chiefs and didn't force any rooting interests on me for college sports. [Reply]
