Realignment

From Orangebloods.com

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe convened a conference call late Friday afternoon with a handful of his conference's presidents to discuss the increasing possibility that Oklahoma wants to bolt the Big 12 for the Pac-12, multiple sources said.

Texas president Bill Powers, Oklahoma president David Boren and Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin were excluded from the call, sources said. But Beebe advised the other presidents in the Big 12 to "work on Texas" to get the Longhorns to stay in the Big 12, sources said.

It's Beebe's belief that if Texas refuses to go to the Pac-12 that Oklahoma would not get a bid from the Pac-12, sources said. But another source close to the situation said if Oklahoma and Oklahoma State indicated to the Pac-12 that they wanted to be a part of that league, they would be admitted.

Beebe released a statement to Orangebloods.com Friday night that said, "We continue to work hard for the long-term stability of the Big 12 Conference."

Boren dropped a bombshell on Friday when he said no one has been more active than the Sooners in surveying their options for the future and that OU would be no wallflower.

"At this point in time, I'll be very honest with you in saying I do not know with certainty, or perhaps even can't hazard a totally intelligent guess as to what our final decision will be," Boren told reporters. "But we are carefully looking over all the options. We are ? there's no school more active in the Big 12 more active than we are right now."

Sources said the Longhorns have been actively working to hold the Big 12 together. Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds and OU athletic director Joe Castiglione are on the five-member Big 12 expansion committee charged with looking for new members to join the Big 12. But if Oklahoma bolts, Texas would consider the Big 12 dead and probably follow the Sooners to the Pac-12.

When I texted a key source close to Texas Friday night if the Longhorns were preparing to head to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, the source texted back, "Leaning that way." The source later said there was a "50 to 60 percent" chance those schools would end up in the Pac-12.

Any move by Texas to the Pac-12 would not be an easy one. First, there is the issue of the Longhorn Network. No schools in the Pac-12 are allowed to have their own network. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has set up a series of regional networks that partner two schools together to share revenue from third-tier rights with each other and with the Pac-12.

So Texas' Longhorn Network, which launched on Aug. 26 and still can't even be seen by most of the Lone Star State, would likely have to be turned into one of the Pac-12's regional networks (and most likely partner with Texas Tech).

And that could mean Texas basically tearing up the 20-year, $300 million deal it just inked with ESPN and giving up its riches.

An industry source with direct knowledge of the Longhorn Network said turning LHN into a regional network in the Pac-12 would be "very difficult." When I asked if it was impossible, the source said, "After last year, I don't subscribe to that word anymore."

That source doubted Texas was going anywhere. That source also doubted that Oklahoma would go anywhere without Texas.

Sources said Texas officials told them last year the Longhorns were reluctant to go to the Pac-12 because they would lose a lot of the power they enjoy in the Big 12. The sources said Texas feared being out-voted and muscled in the Pac-12 by the power brokers in that conference - the original Pac-8 (USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State).

But Texas' move to the Pac-12 would also be difficult because of the legislative heat the Longhorns would likely face. Legislative sources said Friday night that part of the reason Texas A&M was allowed to withdraw from the Big 12 was because of assurances from the rest of the Big 12 that the league would survive.

Now that it appears the Big 12 is in serious jeopardy, lawmakers will not be so passive, sources said.

Two Big 12 sources said if Oklahoma and Texas are preparing to lead a charge to the Pac-12 there would almost certainly be a tortious interference lawsuit filed against the Southeastern Conference. That's if Texas A&M indeed submits its application for membership to the SEC next Tuesday or Wednesday as expected, according to sources.

"Texas A&M leaving has started this whole thing," one source said. "There is a big-time lawsuit here."

The potential of such legal action and the real possibility the Big 12 could collapse prompted another Big 12 source to wonder if the SEC would now hesitate to accept Texas A&M, considering the fallout that could befall the Big 12.

Messages left with officials from Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech as well as Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott were not returned Friday night.

Stay tuned.

When I texted a key source close to Texas Friday night if the Longhorns were preparing to head to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, the source texted back, "Leaning that way." The source later said there was a "50 to 60 percent" chance those schools would end up in the Pac-12.

This was JUST tweeted.

@ChuckCarltonDMN "Hearing from many more places that OU, OSU, and Texas Tech will be in same conference next year. Wherever that may be... #TexasTech #Big12"

@ChuckCarltonDMN "Becoming more obvious a few schools are very in tune with each other. Tech, OU and OSU are on same page"

gingerraider wrote:

When I texted a key source close to Texas Friday night if the Longhorns were preparing to head to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, the source texted back, "Leaning that way." The source later said there was a "50 to 60 percent" chance those schools would end up in the Pac-12.

Yea, i read that earlier as well. I hope it happens. Longhorn Network would dissolve into a regional network by rule of the pac-12 and so Tech would be a part of it.

However, Texas probably doesn't want to share its networks because well UT is run and attended by a lot of snobs. UT is probably going to push hard for BYU to replace A&M just because right now the BIG 12 is the Texas 12. The only reason that UT would be ok with the PAC 16 is the fact that if the BIG 12 does continue we would probably have to bring in TCU and/or Houston to go back to a 12 team conference. UT wouldn't want that because all of a sudden you have schools in 2 of the biggest recruiting centers in the US and top talent wouldn't have to leave home to play in a A.Q. conference. For all our sake hopefully the talking heads at UT actually respect OU, OSU and Tech more than they do A&M and they listen to the officials of those three schools and hopefully those three schools go about it much more professionally than A&M did.

If the PAC 16 does happen the division of Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, Colorado, OKst, OU, Texas and Tech looks really good for us as we should easily expect to be the #4 team every season with some years seeing us do better. Sucks for Colorado though who left the big 12 because of UT and now UT is potential putting them right back in their shadow.


I would also like to see Baylor, TCU, BYU, SMU and Notre Dame get together to form the all religion conference. They could fight for Jesus' love every season.

Vance wrote:

However, Texas probably doesn't want to share its networks because well UT is run and attended by a lot of snobs. UT is probably going to push hard for BYU to replace A&M just because right now the BIG 12 is the Texas 12. The only reason that UT would be ok with the PAC 16 is the fact that if the BIG 12 does continue we would probably have to bring in TCU and/or Houston to go back to a 12 team conference. UT wouldn't want that because all of a sudden you have schools in 2 of the biggest recruiting centers in the US and top talent wouldn't have to leave home to play in a A.Q. conference. For all our sake hopefully the talking heads at UT actually respect OU, OSU and Tech more than they do A&M and they listen to the officials of those three schools and hopefully those three schools go about it much more professionally than A&M did.

If the PAC 16 does happen the division of Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, Colorado, OKst, OU, Texas and Tech looks really good for us as we should easily expect to be the #4 team every season with some years seeing us do better. Sucks for Colorado though who left the big 12 because of UT and now UT is potential putting them right back in their shadow.


I would also like to see Baylor, TCU, BYU, SMU and Notre Dame get together to form the all religion conference. They could fight for Jesus' love every season.

This will not happen.

We are Pac bound. OU and OSU are bolting, some say tech will have an offer as well. I believe under the radar this is what Texas wants to happen so they can say "sorry big 12, baylor and texas legislature, blame A&M and OU".

So what is the next domino to fall- OU and OSU announcing their withdrawal?

I'm rooting for the Longhorn Network to morph into the Lone Star Network.

I'm not hearing good things.

OU and OSU will leave for the PAC.

Texas may not want to give up on THE longhorn network. I'm hearing they might/probably won't go to the PAC and will try to create some big 12/big east conference. It is unlikely Texas tech will have an offer to the pac without Texas.

Texas may screw us. Hance says he has relationships with the PAC and hocutt with OU. We can only hope our administration is as good as we hope they are.

No doubt this is the biggest issues our school has faced in 15 years.

I am so sick of UTs bullshit.

That is all I've read today as well, big 12 + ACC/BigTen merger

PER CHRIS LEVEL.

Texas Tech will end up with one these three scenarios.

1. They'll accept a Pac 12 invite.

2. They'll remain in a reworked Big 12 that could resemble the Southwest Conference minus Texas A&M.

3. They'll accept an invite to the Big East with other Big 12 members if the Big 12 dissolves and the Pac 12 never calls.

Not sure there is another realistic scenario that exists for the Red Raiders.

I fully expect tomorrow, Thursday and Friday to be quite busy on the realignment front.

1)

2)

3)

come ooooon Pac 16!

Hold everything folks.

by ChipBrown at 9/7 12:19 AM

The Southeastern Conference presidents met Tuesday night and voted to admit Texas A&M. But the vote came with a stipulation that still must be worked out.

The SEC presidents voted to admit Texas A&M as the 13th member of that league so long as each individual member of the Big 12 waives its right to litigation against the SEC.

And it was unclear Tuesday night if all nine remaining members of the Big 12 would waive that right, sources said. The Big 12 schools were expected to discuss the matter on Wednesday, sources said. That's the same day Texas A&M has planned a celebration in College Station to announce its admission into the SEC, sources said.

If even one of the Big 12 schools refuse to waive their right to sue the SEC over its courtship of Texas A&M, the SEC could withdraw its vote to admit A&M, sources said.

After letters were exchanged by SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe Tuesday, Beebe told Slive the Big 12 conference office had waived its right to litigate against Texas A&M or the SEC but that the Big 12's waiver was not binding on the individual members of the Big 12, sources said.

The SEC indicated it would admit Texas A&M only upon condition that each individual member of the Big 12 waive its right to sue the SEC, sources said.

And that condition was in doubt Tuesday night, sources said.