Letter from GG and JP
- Thread starter LutherClone
- Start date
I am sure a bunch of people have said this, but I am an Iowa State fan, its my School. I am a Cyclone to the bone and I am not really concerned what conference we are in.
If this is true, this could either be the start of a very long hill up to the top of the highest roller coaster hill we've been on, or it could be the end of the ride.
From The Statesmen:
Austin sports news and Longhorns | Statesman.com
Nebraska and Missouri have been given an ultimatum by the Big 12 and told they have until this Friday to decide if they want to remain in the conference or entertain the possibility of joining the Big Ten, two highly placed officials of two Big 12 schools have told the Statesman. The deadline was given to the pair of schools by the Big 12 presidents during the league meetings held in Kansas City this last week. “Nebraska has until 5 p.m. on Friday to tell us what they’re going to do,” one school official said, adding that he has heard it is a possibility they could extend that deadline to June 15. “The same deal for Missouri. They have to tell us they’re not going to the Big Ten or …” Or at least six Big 12 schools, including Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, will be inclined to accept an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado are the other three schools that could bolt what would be a dissolving Big 12. Nebraska and Missouri could be taking the risk that they might not be extended invitations from the Big Ten, which has said it could take up to 18 months to decide whether to expand its current membership of 11 schools. “I’ve talked to the Pac-10,” said the Big 12 school administrator, who expected the speculation involving the Big 12 to be resolved within two weeks. “There is an invitation. When it comes, it’ll come fast.” One Pac-10 athletic director told the Statesman on Saturday, “There’s still a lot that has to happen. It’s nowhere near done. At this point, we have not been presented any definite plans. Said another political figure heavily connected to Texas, “I know the war drums are beating. This is way beyond gossip.”
Also, the last of "the forgotten four" as we've been called, Baylor, has spoken:
http://www.baylorbears.com/genrel/060410aaa.html
June 4, 2010
Members of the Baylor Family,
The spring meetings of the Big 12 Conference have just concluded. The media attention that has focused on the potential for conference realignment has made these meetings especially lively and, at times, challenging.
Ian McCaw, our athletic director, and I have been extremely active participants in these meetings, working hard to represent Baylor's best interests. While I have little specific to report, I can tell you that at this time we are encouraged by the way the process is unfolding.
Ian and I have made our case clear: Baylor emphatically supports the Big 12 Conference and wants to see it prosper. In particular, we appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12 and the special rivalries that entertain our state and energize our alumni.
We are aware of the intense speculation surrounding the possible expansion of other conferences. We remain hopeful that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of the nation's foremost athletic conferences.
Of course, we are immensely proud of our standing - both athletic and academic - in the Big 12. In the last seven years alone we have won a combined 28 Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships, positioning us third behind Texas (55) and Texas A&M (30). The academic quality of our students also sets Baylor apart. In the most recent edition of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S.News & World Report, Baylor is ranked fourth in the Big 12.
Be assured that we are committed to doing everything in our power to promote and defend the best interests of Baylor University as these discussions continue in the days ahead.
Sic 'em, Bears.
Ken Starr
President
From The Statesmen:
Austin sports news and Longhorns | Statesman.com
Nebraska and Missouri have been given an ultimatum by the Big 12 and told they have until this Friday to decide if they want to remain in the conference or entertain the possibility of joining the Big Ten, two highly placed officials of two Big 12 schools have told the Statesman. The deadline was given to the pair of schools by the Big 12 presidents during the league meetings held in Kansas City this last week. “Nebraska has until 5 p.m. on Friday to tell us what they’re going to do,” one school official said, adding that he has heard it is a possibility they could extend that deadline to June 15. “The same deal for Missouri. They have to tell us they’re not going to the Big Ten or …” Or at least six Big 12 schools, including Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, will be inclined to accept an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado are the other three schools that could bolt what would be a dissolving Big 12. Nebraska and Missouri could be taking the risk that they might not be extended invitations from the Big Ten, which has said it could take up to 18 months to decide whether to expand its current membership of 11 schools. “I’ve talked to the Pac-10,” said the Big 12 school administrator, who expected the speculation involving the Big 12 to be resolved within two weeks. “There is an invitation. When it comes, it’ll come fast.” One Pac-10 athletic director told the Statesman on Saturday, “There’s still a lot that has to happen. It’s nowhere near done. At this point, we have not been presented any definite plans. Said another political figure heavily connected to Texas, “I know the war drums are beating. This is way beyond gossip.”
Also, the last of "the forgotten four" as we've been called, Baylor, has spoken:
http://www.baylorbears.com/genrel/060410aaa.html
June 4, 2010
Members of the Baylor Family,
The spring meetings of the Big 12 Conference have just concluded. The media attention that has focused on the potential for conference realignment has made these meetings especially lively and, at times, challenging.
Ian McCaw, our athletic director, and I have been extremely active participants in these meetings, working hard to represent Baylor's best interests. While I have little specific to report, I can tell you that at this time we are encouraged by the way the process is unfolding.
Ian and I have made our case clear: Baylor emphatically supports the Big 12 Conference and wants to see it prosper. In particular, we appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12 and the special rivalries that entertain our state and energize our alumni.
We are aware of the intense speculation surrounding the possible expansion of other conferences. We remain hopeful that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of the nation's foremost athletic conferences.
Of course, we are immensely proud of our standing - both athletic and academic - in the Big 12. In the last seven years alone we have won a combined 28 Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships, positioning us third behind Texas (55) and Texas A&M (30). The academic quality of our students also sets Baylor apart. In the most recent edition of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S.News & World Report, Baylor is ranked fourth in the Big 12.
Be assured that we are committed to doing everything in our power to promote and defend the best interests of Baylor University as these discussions continue in the days ahead.
Sic 'em, Bears.
Ken Starr
President
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I'm guessing it would require something written with extra strong financial penalties.
Could there be contracts signed with severe penalties for jumping ship (more severe than in place now)? That's what happened when the conference was formed, and as this is a monumental moment, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again.
So...is the deal if MU/NU stay, it's probably some kind of Big 12/Pac-10 full merger or alliance, or if MU or NU bolt, The six aforementioned schools get invites and are gone??? I'm guessing NU is the big one...
I guess I'm not quite picturing the Big 12 going ahead and kicking out one of their three "brand names" - Nebraska - if the Huskers don't give a definitive answer by the middle of this month.
Sorry.
Sorry.
I don't think that's what they're saying at all. What they're saying is:
Dear Nebraska (and you too Mizzou),
If you don't commit to us, we're leaving for Californ-i-a and in that case you better hope like hell that the Big Television takes you. Peace *******.
Signed,
Texas and the army of ******
P.S. Iowa State, Kansas State, KU and Baylor: We don't give a damn.
Exactly. Texas would just as soon maintain the status quo rather than blow things up. Texas knows that MU and NU are fishing for an offer from the Big TV. Texas has an offer in hand from the PAC 16. Texas tells MU and NU to commit to staying, or they are going to accept their offer, take five others with them. NU and MU can commit to the status quo, or they can take their chances of either getting into the Big TV or getting left out in the cold with ISU, KU, KSU, and BU.
I get it now. I guess I was starting to buy the news out of Austin that Texas actually wants the Big 12 to stay together and prosper...
Sorry if I missed this before in the plethora of threads...are OU/OSU and KU/KSU linked by legislative edict or some other such thing? In the 6-teams-to-Pac-10 scenario, KU in place of OSU would bring in another TV market. Plus, it would be quite something to have two of the most storied MBB programs in the same conference...
Don't you think already that MU and NU have some sort of word from the Big 10 that they have a spot? If those two schools either 1. Didn't have a spot or 2. Wanted to stay in the current Big 12, they would have spoken up and fallen into place.
In a weird way, they do. It's the best of both worlds if Texa$$ can hold together the Big XII as their fifedom, get the PAC-10/Big 12 TV deal, AND their own network. The only way this works is if there is a Big 12. The only way the Big 12 works is if Nebby stays.
If they had a spot locked up in the Big Ten, they could have both declared they were "out" at the Big 12 meetings. No need to drag it out two more weeks.
Or maybe NU/MU do have spot in the Big Ten, but the Big Ten does not want them to show their hand yet.
It wouldn't be much of an F U to the South teams, since the only one getting hurt in the long run would be BU. It would be more of an F U to the North (ISU,KSU,KU)...dragging out the uncertainty...
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^^^
This! The Big 10 doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag yet. They are still lining up the other teams to come in. With all this crap going around, do you not now think that the report released a month ago from that KC radio station had any legs to it? Seems too coincidental. NU and MU have some sort of informal promise that when everything is said and done, they have a spot on the bus. Otherwise they would have committed to the Big 12 and this issue would have been closed.
More news out of Texas... sounds like sCUm may get the boot for... wait for it... Baylor:
Pac 10 may now be considering Baylor over Colorado
Fallout from the Orangebloods.com report that the Pac-10
is planning to extend invitations to Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado has been immediate.
DeLoss Dodds and Texas are working feverishly to hold the Big 12
together.
http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v.../36789949/1;;~sscs=?http://www.allenhonda.com
Already, the political forces in Texas are preparing to make demands that if six schools from the Big 12 are going to be invited to the Pac-10, Baylor should replace Colorado on that list, according to two sources close to the situation.
"If you're going to have an exported commodity involved in this, do you think we're going to allow a school from outside the state of Texas to replace one of our schools in the Big 12 South? I don't think so. We're already at work on this," said a high-ranking member of the Texas Legislature who asked not to be identified.
The source said there is a block of 15 legislators who will work to make sure Baylor - not Colorado - is invited to the Pac-10.
"If the Pac-10 wants Texas, and we know they do, they may have to take all of our Texas schools," the source said, adding that Texas Tech has also benefited from political inclusion on the invite list.
That influence may already have been felt during Saturday's Pac-10 meetings in San Francisco (more on that in a minute).
The Texas legislators taking up for Baylor are pointing to the political and economic importance of keeping the Texas members of the Big 12 South together as well as Colorado's recent athletic struggles and lack of sports such as baseball, softball and men's tennis.
"Denver as a television market doesn't really support Colorado," the source said. "And the weather can also be an adventure."
THE PAC-10 PROPOSALS
Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott laid out several possible expansion scenarios to his league's athletic directors during conference meetings in San Francisco on Saturday.
According to a source with knowledge of the Pac-10 meetings, Scott made cases to: stay at its current 10-school membership; merge with the entire Big 12; invite six schools from the Big 12, as long as it includes Texas; or invite Colorado and Utah.
The source said there is not much enthusiasm for a full-blown merger or for the league to go to 12 schools by adding Colorado and Utah.
Multiple sources said the plan Scott favors is adding six teams from the Big 12 (as long as it includes Texas) and creating two, eight-team divisions. The Big 12 schools would compete in a division with Arizona and Arizona State, while the remaining Pac-10 schools - USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State - would compete in the other division.
Scott also apparently laid out two plans that would involve the six-team invitation to schools in the Big 12. One that included Colorado and one that replaced Colorado with Baylor along with the other members of the Big 12 South.
Scott did not immediately return a message left for him by Orangebloods.com.
PAC-10 COMMITTED TO A CONFERENCE NETWORK
Scott, who took over as Pac-10 commissioner in 2009 and earns $1.7 million annually after running the Women's Tennis Association for six years, appears ready to show he's worth every penny by making a splash. He will recommend to the presidents and chancellors on Sunday that they invite six Big 12 teams and move forward with a 16-team conference network that projects to pay out $20 million per school.
The network would most likely be run by Fox Cable Networks (a subsidiary of News Corporation), which serves as the chief operating partner of the Big Ten Network.
The Pac-10 would want an answer from any invited schools by the end of the year because its television package with Fox is up for renewal in 2011.
Former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg, who took over as the chief operating officer of the Pac-10 in April, has experience in launching a conference network after helping the Big Ten do it.
Weiberg resigned from the Big 12 and went to the Big Ten to work on its network after Big 12 members went against his recommendation to start a conference network in 2007.
The Pac-10's plans to have a conference network is a major stumbling block for Texas.
UT officials have partnered with IMG in exploring their own television network and would have to abandon those plans if it was to move to the Pac-10. Scott told Orangebloods.com in May that a conference network would require "an all rights in" commitment from member schools.
That's one of the biggest reasons Texas is working feverishly to hold the Big 12 together.
Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, which would love to have Texas, said this week schools can explore their own networks in the SEC. It was almost an open-armed invitation to Texas, which has so far seen the SEC as poor cultural fit.
Despite overtures from the Big Ten, Texas has balked at the logistics of being the southern boundary of that league and doesn't appear interested.
Multiple sources close to the situation say Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska are the three schools holding up the Big 12 from moving forward as a conference. The league wrapped up meetings in Kansas City on Friday without a vow of solidarity from all its schools.
Two sources said Missouri is eagerly hoping for an invitation from the Big Ten, while Nebraska appears to be moving back to the table with the nine schools who are determined to keep the Big 12 alive.
Colorado appears to be hoping for a Pac-10 invitation, but now the Buffaloes could be left out of that mix thanks to Baylor and Texas politics.
Just another day in the swirl that is possible college realignment.
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1091406
Pac 10 may now be considering Baylor over Colorado
Fallout from the Orangebloods.com report that the Pac-10
is planning to extend invitations to Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado has been immediate. DeLoss Dodds and Texas are working feverishly to hold the Big 12
together. http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v.../36789949/1;;~sscs=?http://www.allenhonda.com
Already, the political forces in Texas are preparing to make demands that if six schools from the Big 12 are going to be invited to the Pac-10, Baylor should replace Colorado on that list, according to two sources close to the situation.
"If you're going to have an exported commodity involved in this, do you think we're going to allow a school from outside the state of Texas to replace one of our schools in the Big 12 South? I don't think so. We're already at work on this," said a high-ranking member of the Texas Legislature who asked not to be identified.
The source said there is a block of 15 legislators who will work to make sure Baylor - not Colorado - is invited to the Pac-10.
"If the Pac-10 wants Texas, and we know they do, they may have to take all of our Texas schools," the source said, adding that Texas Tech has also benefited from political inclusion on the invite list.
That influence may already have been felt during Saturday's Pac-10 meetings in San Francisco (more on that in a minute).
The Texas legislators taking up for Baylor are pointing to the political and economic importance of keeping the Texas members of the Big 12 South together as well as Colorado's recent athletic struggles and lack of sports such as baseball, softball and men's tennis.
"Denver as a television market doesn't really support Colorado," the source said. "And the weather can also be an adventure."
THE PAC-10 PROPOSALS
Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott laid out several possible expansion scenarios to his league's athletic directors during conference meetings in San Francisco on Saturday.
According to a source with knowledge of the Pac-10 meetings, Scott made cases to: stay at its current 10-school membership; merge with the entire Big 12; invite six schools from the Big 12, as long as it includes Texas; or invite Colorado and Utah.
The source said there is not much enthusiasm for a full-blown merger or for the league to go to 12 schools by adding Colorado and Utah.
Multiple sources said the plan Scott favors is adding six teams from the Big 12 (as long as it includes Texas) and creating two, eight-team divisions. The Big 12 schools would compete in a division with Arizona and Arizona State, while the remaining Pac-10 schools - USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State - would compete in the other division.
Scott also apparently laid out two plans that would involve the six-team invitation to schools in the Big 12. One that included Colorado and one that replaced Colorado with Baylor along with the other members of the Big 12 South.
Scott did not immediately return a message left for him by Orangebloods.com.
PAC-10 COMMITTED TO A CONFERENCE NETWORK
Scott, who took over as Pac-10 commissioner in 2009 and earns $1.7 million annually after running the Women's Tennis Association for six years, appears ready to show he's worth every penny by making a splash. He will recommend to the presidents and chancellors on Sunday that they invite six Big 12 teams and move forward with a 16-team conference network that projects to pay out $20 million per school.
The network would most likely be run by Fox Cable Networks (a subsidiary of News Corporation), which serves as the chief operating partner of the Big Ten Network.
The Pac-10 would want an answer from any invited schools by the end of the year because its television package with Fox is up for renewal in 2011.
Former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg, who took over as the chief operating officer of the Pac-10 in April, has experience in launching a conference network after helping the Big Ten do it.
Weiberg resigned from the Big 12 and went to the Big Ten to work on its network after Big 12 members went against his recommendation to start a conference network in 2007.
The Pac-10's plans to have a conference network is a major stumbling block for Texas.
UT officials have partnered with IMG in exploring their own television network and would have to abandon those plans if it was to move to the Pac-10. Scott told Orangebloods.com in May that a conference network would require "an all rights in" commitment from member schools.
That's one of the biggest reasons Texas is working feverishly to hold the Big 12 together.
Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, which would love to have Texas, said this week schools can explore their own networks in the SEC. It was almost an open-armed invitation to Texas, which has so far seen the SEC as poor cultural fit.
Despite overtures from the Big Ten, Texas has balked at the logistics of being the southern boundary of that league and doesn't appear interested.
Multiple sources close to the situation say Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska are the three schools holding up the Big 12 from moving forward as a conference. The league wrapped up meetings in Kansas City on Friday without a vow of solidarity from all its schools.
Two sources said Missouri is eagerly hoping for an invitation from the Big Ten, while Nebraska appears to be moving back to the table with the nine schools who are determined to keep the Big 12 alive.
Colorado appears to be hoping for a Pac-10 invitation, but now the Buffaloes could be left out of that mix thanks to Baylor and Texas politics.
Just another day in the swirl that is possible college realignment.
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1091406
