Funny Stuff New Conference re-alignment thread - Page 519

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.
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Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about realignment:

http://newsok.com/dont-count-out-lou...medium=twitter

Originally Posted by :
Don't count out Louisville to Big 12 just yet

BY BERRY TRAMEL
Published: October 30, 2011

Chuck Neinas says the Big 12 is finished expanding for now. And you can trust him, so long as you don't get too picky about what “now” means.

Don't count out Louisville to Big 12 just yet.

The Big 12 added West Virginia on Friday, leaving Louisville in the wretched Big East. The Big 12 might be a pirate ship, but at least America wants to watch the Bluebeards play football.

But don't count out Louisville coming on board, too. And maybe sooner rather than later.

A Big 12 source told me that despite what Neinas said Friday, the conference has not settled on 10 as an ideal number. In fact, there could be a push to also invite Louisville soon and bring the membership to 11.

Make the West Virginia/Big East negotiation a two-school affair. Strength in numbers.

Eleven is an odd number in more ways than one. But the Big Ten had 11 members for 20 years.

At 11, the Big 12 could stand pat and try to work a deal for Notre Dame as an associate member, in all sports but football. At 11, the Big 12 could stand ready to easily get back to a full 12-team league with divisions and a championship game, no matter whether the 12th team is manna from Heaven (Notre Dame) or another Big East refugee (Cincinnati).

At 11, the Big 12 would have scheduling options. Stick with the nine-game league schedule, which means each football team would skip one conference opponent a year.

Or even better, the Big 12 could go to a 10-team league schedule. Coaches wouldn't like the severity of such a task, but it would greatly enhance the Big 12's television package. More inventory; more quality games.

West Virginia got the nod over Louisville primarily for television purposes. The Mountaineers are a brand name on the gridiron. Louisville wouldn't add value to the network contracts. But if Louisville meant a 10-game conference schedule, well, that's different. That's 55 conference games; that's a lot of good football.

Plus, Louisville brings other benefits to the Big 12. Across-the-board athletic success. The Cardinals beat OSU to go to the 2007 College World Series. The Cardinals beat OU in the 2009 Women's Final Four.

And Rick Pitino's team has been known to play a little basketball. I know conference realignment is football driven, but a school that can put the Big 12's name in lights in March is a handy bonus.

So I would invite Louisville quickly, and some in the conference agree, no matter what Neinas says.

The interim commissioner seemed to bring some stability to the conference when he arrived a few weeks ago. But last week was a total mess.

An invitation to West Virginia, then rescinded. Then the invite restored, a couple of days later. From what I know, Neinas wasn't culpable. Sounds like presidential meddling.

But then the Big 12 put out a press release that basically said Missouri was gone, when Mizzou hasn't bolted yet. And then Neinas said the Big 12 hadn't even discussed the idea of returning to 12 teams, which is pure nonsense.

Not only have presidents of several universities — including David Boren and Burns Hargis — publicly stated their preference for 12 schools, sources say the idea has been bantered about on the expansion committee.

To say otherwise means Neinas is either confused or, even worse, a Texas puppet, since DeLoss Dodds is a member of the 10-team party.

Nothing against Dodds or his preference. But when the commissioner erroneously declares the Big 12's position, there's a problem.

The Big 12 managed to turn what should have been a celebration moment – West Virginia coming in – into another league embarrassment. The Big 12 pitted schools from another conference against each other. That's bad form.

The best way for this league to restore its tattered image is do what it's done this autumn. Win a bunch of football games. But the next-best way is to adequately replace the quality programs that have departed.
West Virginia qualifies. So does Louisville.

Read more: http://newsok.com/dont-count-out-lou...#ixzz1cKUujvbQ

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