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.
And that's why I've decided that most of the Nubs fans are pretty much pricks. They sit around and get their rocks off on the struggles of the XII.
I don't really give a good god damn what happens to this conference if Mizzou leaves it. If they make more money without us than they would have with us - bully for them.
I only care about Mizzou. I'm not going to sit around and say "I hope we can bring KU along" or any of that mealy-mouthed crap. What I want to do is see Mizzou go to a stable program that will help this University, this community and our athletic programs take a step forward. That's it and that's all.
The XII can make as much money as it wants after we're gone, but I'm still going to be happier where we land.
Originally Posted by Saul Good:
Their signature win last year was against a team with a losing record. Their signature win this year will be against a non-BCS school. Of course, it will be their only win against Division 1A opponents as well.
I'd tread lightly with the MAC... I mean seriously, it's the only conference your coach has ever won.
Oh wait....same as the only conference my coach has ever won either. [Reply]
Originally Posted by bandwagonjumper:
If I were a Missouri fan I'm not sure I would wish to join the SEC. I'm going from being the fourth or fifth best team in the Big XII to being the tenth or eleventh best team in the SEC but perhaps its time for Missouri to go back to its natural level which is bad to mediocre instead mediocre to good. Lets not forget that this is now the golden age of Missouri football.
There's no doubt KU's football program will have to measure its improvement incrementally. We have many obstacles to overcome, most notably on the defensive line. KU is a place where you have to develop players who did not have the measurables when they first got out of college, and that will take time. We don't have the type of program that can attract those ready to play type kids. I hope they have the patience to develop their program like Mizzou did, although we won't have the benefit of divisional play. In his first four years, Pinkel only had one season above 5 wins (and remember, 4 were non-cons at that time). Complicating matters even more is that I think the Big XII is in the midst of some of its strongest members as a whole.
So, yeah, beating NIU is a step forward, considering we lost to North Dakota St and Southern Miss last year. Our offensive attack looks much improved but the defense is woeful. I was hoping to reduce the number of blowouts this year, but I don't know if that's a reality. Texas Tech should help tell us a lot on how much improvement is realistic. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade:
But, I don't think a move to the SEC is going to do them many favors. Sure, Arkansas has a solid program, but being in the SEC hasn't really done much for them on the national scale. Have you ever listened to radio talk shows based in the SEC? They barely like to acknowledge them as it is, many of them have voiced the opinion that wouldn't care if they leave.
I'm curious how much exposure to SEC sports radio you've had considering you live in California. I live in Nashville and can assure you the two main sports stations here talk as much about Arkansas as any non-Vandy or UT team in the SEC. The Bama-Arkansas game was the main college topic last week outside of realignment. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wickedson:
I'd tread lightly with the MAC... I mean seriously, it's the only conference your coach has ever won.
Oh wait....same as the only conference my coach has ever won either.
Pinkel left the MAC to coach a better team. Gill left the MAC to coach a team that couldn't win the MAC.
Dude was 3-5 at Buffalo, and that was the best. Coach you could get. He had a winning percentage of .400 in the MAC, and its .333 with KU. He'll likely finish this season with a career record of 5-19 at KU. History totally awaits, though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eazyb81:
I'm curious how much exposure to SEC sports radio you've had considering you live in California. I live in Nashville and can assure you the two main sports stations here talk as much about Arkansas as any non-Vandy or UT team in the SEC. The Bama-Arkansas game was the main college topic last week outside of realignment.
Finebaum has a national radio show I listen to on Sirius and Rivals Radio has Bill King, as well. From the callers to those shows to the inflections they give about Arkansas and its place in the SEC leads me to believe they regard Arkansas as an outlier more than any other school in the SEC. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.: TCU's average football attendance for the 2010 season was 42466
Yea, our stadium prior to expansion only held 44k. TCU is a small school and without a good schedule to draw in outsiders then we can't sell out. If every living alumni from TCU went to every game, we still can't sell out the stadium.
This year our attendance is going to be shit. I was going to buy season tickets until the Boise game was taken away from us and I know at least a half dozen of my friends were the same way. The next 2 seasons, we have decent home schedules so I guarantee that our attendance will improve (with that being said our stadium after renovation is only going to hold 48k.) [Reply]
