TEX/OKLA to SEC-mercy

The first shoe may drop monday

BoiseState of the MWC may move to the WAC

That will give the WAC a chance to receive an automatic BCS bid as they would be joining Utah and TCU - all 3 of those schools have played in BCS games the last few years and are ranked high - thus under the new BCS rules would make the wac eligible for an automatic BCS bid

Both of these conferences now have 9 teams - this would take the wac to 10 and the mwc to 8

I suppose the wac is thinking that they could fend off the pac10 better with this move - I'm not sure it would - I'm guessing if the pac10 came after Utah/BS/TCU and maybe BYU for their expansion the wac would not be able to stop it - the pac10 would be able to offer lots more money - after all that is what this will all be about - more money

This is from espn - sounds like the big10 is after the big prize - texas and company

Speculation continues to swirl around the future make-up of the Pac-10 and Big 12 as both conferences hold meetings to discuss what's next in college sports' impending game of musical chairs.
Add to that a report Friday from the Columbus Dispatch that Ohio State president Gordon Gee has had an e-mail conversation about expansion with his counterpart at Texas, William Powers, and the Big Ten's future is also in the news.
\"I did speak with Bill Powers at Texas, who would welcome a call to say they have a 'Tech' problem,\" Gee wrote in an e-mail sent to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and obtained by The Columbus Dispatch through a public-records request for documents and correspondence related to Big Ten expansion proposals. The Tech problem presumably involves Texas Tech, a school some feel would have to come with Texas and Texas A&M in any bid for those schools to join the Big Ten.
The day before writing about his conversation with Powers, Gee wrote Delany to say he was \"of the mind that we control our destiny at the moment, but the window will soon close on us. Agility and swiftness of foot is our friend.\"
Delany said: \"We are fast-tracking it but need to know the $ and observe contracts,\" according to the Dispatch.
The Big 12, meeting this week in Kansas City, abruptly canceled a news briefing Thursday night, fueling speculation that the 12 schools are far from agreement. A short time earlier, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione had indicated the member schools did not reach the unity that many had hoped these meetings would achieve.
From the Pac-10 side, University of Washington athletic director Scott Woodward said Thursday that reports of a larger Pac-10 are \"all speculation,\" but he did concede to the Seattle Times that \"there is an enormous amount of speculation about conference expansion right now and I think with the Pac-10 that anything is possible, all the way from remaining with the status quo, where we are today, to a full merger with the Big 12 and anything in between. All possibilities are viable and open for discussion.\"
The Pac-10 meets this weekend in San Francisco. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said the Pac-10 continues to conduct an \"exhaustive and proactive\" evaluation of the league and its future.
Castiglione said possible ties with the Pac-10 were discussed on Thursday in the Big 12 meetings.
\"I think there's some potential value there,\" he said. \"We had one meeting with some of the members of the Pac-10. It wasn't a scheduled meeting. We brainstormed some of the possibilities that may exist. Since then, both our commissioner and Larry Scott have had conversations. It leads one to believe there are some real viable opportunities for both leagues.\"
Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said he and others had been led to believe the Pac-10 was on the verge of issuing invitations to six members of the Big 12.
\"The longer that we were together in Kansas City it appeared that that rumor or speculation did have some validity to it,\" Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera.
Asked if Oklahoma had had any conversation with the Pac-10 about some Big 12 schools joining up and leaving others behind, Castiglione said, \"Not yet. Hopefully, I don't have to.\"
\"While many interesting scenarios have been suggested in numerous news reports, around the country,\" the Pac-10 statement from Scott read, \"we remain focused on a thorough evaluation process that examines all of the options for increasing the value of the conference for our member institutions, our student athletes and our fans. We have not developed any definitive plans. We have not extended any invitations for expansion and we do not anticipate any such decisions in the near term.\"
Thursday afternoon, a report out of Texas said that the Pac-10 might invite six Big 12 schools to join and form two eight-team divisions. Some Big 12 and Pac-10 officials met informally several few weeks ago to discuss a possible scheduling and television alliance between the leagues.
Speculation of a possible breakup of the 14-year-old Big 12 exploded this spring when the Big Ten said it might expand and Nebraska and Missouri indicated interest.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas president Powers had been scheduled to brief reporters at the end of the day on Thursday, the third day of the league's spring meetings.
But after a separate meeting of the presidents ran an hour long, Beebe emerged to say -- as he was pursued by reporters into a waiting elevator -- that the news conference would be on Friday.
\"The board is still in session. We won't conclude until tomorrow and we're not going to have any kind of comments about anything the board has been considering or acting upon until tomorrow.\"
He refused to elaborate.
In Thursday's joint meeting of athletic directors and presidents, Oklahoma's Castiglione said the ADs all gave their recommendation about whether the league should stay together.
Apparently, the unanimity that many members were hoping to forge proved elusive.
\"We all had a chance to express our thoughts,\" Castiglione said when asked if any of the athletic directors indicated they might want to leave.
So does that mean not everyone was united?
\"Everybody expressed their thoughts,\" he said.
Castiglione and Oklahoma president David Boren have been adamant in their desire to keep the league intact.
\"Each athletic director had a chance to convey their thoughts about the future of our conference, and that was great,\" Castiglione said. \"A lot of passion about the Big 12 in that room, I can promise you that.\"
As the meetings were beginning Thursday morning, the head of the University of Missouri gave no assurances the Tigers intend to remain in the Big 12.
\"We're not shutting our ears to anything,\" said chancellor Brady Deaton. \"I'm sure every school here has a responsibility to its own institution as primary responsibility. Conference realignment is something we do for our athletic programs.\"

RabunDog wrote:

The first shoe may drop monday

BoiseState of the MWC may move to the WAC

That will give the WAC a chance to receive an automatic BCS bid as they would be joining Utah and TCU - all 3 of those schools have played in BCS games the last few years and are ranked high - thus under the new BCS rules would make the wac eligible for an automatic BCS bid

Both of these conferences now have 9 teams - this would take the wac to 10 and the mwc to 8

I suppose the wac is thinking that they could fend off the pac10 better with this move - I'm not sure it would - I'm guessing if the pac10 came after Utah/BS/TCU and maybe BYU for their expansion the wac would not be able to stop it - the pac10 would be able to offer lots more money - after all that is what this will all be about - more money

oooppps - got the conferences reversed - bs may leave the wac and join the mwc

2 articles today in the ajc

As rumors fly, SEC presidents will talk expansion today
8:42 am June 4, 2010, by Tim Tucker
DESTIN, Fla. – Today, the final day of the SEC spring meetings, presidents and chancellors of the league’s 12 schools will get around to talking about the elephant in the room.
Expansion.
They met for 3 ½ hours Thursday, and according to UGA President Michael Adams the topic never came up. But it will be discussed in today’s session, according to Florida President Bernard Machen.
As the SEC presidents met Thursday afternoon with ESPN executives and heard how well things went in Year 1 of the league’s 15-year $3 billion TV deals — phenomenally well, Adams said — news arrived from the Big 12 meetings in Kansas City:
Rivals.com’s University of Texas website, Orangebloods.com, was reporting that the Pac-10 “appears” on the verge of inviting half of the Big 12 -– Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado -– to join its ranks to create a 16-team super-conference. That would change the landscape of college athletics.
The report quickly drew varying responses. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott issued a statement that the league has “not extended any invitations for expansion, and we do not anticipate any such decisions in the near term.” But Colorado athletics director Mike Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera that he and other school officials have been led to believe the Pac-10 is indeed on the verge of inviting those six Big 12 schools to join.
And then there was Texas A&M athletics director Bill Byrne’s response when asked by the Houston Chronicle if the SEC would be an option for his school if the Big 12 breaks apart. “It might be,” he said. “You know what? It might be.”
This stuff is starting to get intriguing.
Yeah, it’s time for the SEC presidents to talk it over.
One thing certainly worth discussing: If Texas is going to change leagues, should the SEC aggressively try to land the Longhorns?
SEC commissioner Mike Slive did not know Thursday whether the reports out of Kansas City were accurate. “There are a lot of different rumors, a lot of different things,” he said. “When we went to Phoenix for the BCS [meetings in April], everybody was convinced that something was going to happen then. … Here we are doing the same thing again today. … News keeps coming.”
Even if the latest reports and rumors prove valid, Slive said again the SEC would be “thoughtful and strategic” in deciding whether or how to react. He said the SEC is “a very special league” that has had “some very special success” but added that it is “not complacent.” He declined to say whether the SEC has had talks with Texas A&M, as one might infer from Byrne’s comment.
UGA’s Adams is urging extreme caution on the SEC’s part. His position is that even if another league super-sizes, that doesn’t necessarily mean the SEC would need to do likewise.
“I’ve said this before and when asked I’ve advised the commissioner: I think we’re in the driver’s seat on these kinds of issues,” Adams said Thursday in a hallway of the Sandestin Hilton. “I don’t think we have to necessarily respond to anybody.
“If we see movement, then I think we analyze it. But there’s a pretty strong sense, I believe, among the 12 presidents and the commissioner right now that the SEC is in the best shape it’s ever been in. So we feel pretty good about things. If the landscape changes, then we’ll try to analyze it. But I don’t believe we have to change.”
The sense you get here is that the SEC doesn’t really want to change –- but that it simply doesn’t know how much the world around it is going to change.
Today could be interesting, although probably more interesting out west.




Does an expanded SEC without a Texas school make sense?
10:41 am June 4, 2010, by Bill King
üI’ve said before here that I don’t think the SEC should consider adding teams unless it expands its geographic (read: television) footprint — specifically, into the state of Texas.
It only makes sense to add teams in states where the SEC already has members if you’re filling out a 16-team league that has expanded the conference’s borders. Sure, a Clemson or Florida State would be a good match in terms of tradition and on-field product for the existing SEC membership, but the conference wouldn’t gain much in terms of market reach by adding them, although the Seminoles are a big-name program with a national profile.
However, if Texas and Texas A&M really do join a mass exodus of six programs from the Big 12 to the PAC 10, as has been rumored — and that’s a mighty big if, I think, where the Longhorns and Aggies are concerned — Mike Slive and the SEC presidents are going to be under increasing pressure to react.
(I still think that if it’s apparent the Big 12 is falling apart, Texas and/or Texas A&M might find the financial setup of the SEC, where teams can sell their own ancillary media rights to supplement the CBS/ESPN deal, more attractive than the sort of league-takes-all arrangement they’ll likely see in the PAC.)
If the Texas schools do go to the PAC, though, might the SEC still expand its geographic reach by peeling Virginia Tech away from the ACC? Does the new, richer TV deal the ACC recently signed mean it will be more difficult to lure the Hokies or Clemson or FSU into the SEC? If so, where else might the conference look?
Finally, does the SEC even need to expand, no matter what other conferences do? A good case can be made that standing pat with the 12 teams it has now be the safest move in the midst of all the ensuing turmoil as the Big 12 (and probably Big East) get dismembered.
One thing you can be sure of: The SEC will be looking to its financial bottom line in whatever it does. And that’s a good thing for Georgia.
This is going to get really interesting.

Sounds like this could begin to unfold Friday

Nebraska will supposidly annouce friday they are leaving the big12 for the big10 - Mizzo will probably follow - several big east teams - maybe ND will join the big10

According to news out of Tex - Tx officials met with all the coaches today (wed) and informed them they had tried to hold the big12 together but were unable

Tx/TxA&M/TxTech/Colorado/Oklahoma/OklaState will all leave for the pac10

Colorado has also been courted by the mountian west

Supposidly the SEC tried to go after Tx but they where not interested because only 2 SEC teams are AAU members (academic) - the only big12 teams somewhat interested in the SEC were TxA&M and OklaSt

So sounds like we may be headed to 16 team conferences

Since the big12 teams have apparently decided to go west - the SEC is looking at VaTech and possibly a NC school - they really want/need a tex school (TV markets = $$$$) - probaly go after TCU - and any one of the following schools clemson/fsu/miami/gt

remnants of the big east and acc may merge to form a new conference - who knows what will happen to kansas/k state/iowa st of the big 12 - probably go with boise state to the mountian west for best hopes of obtaining BCS status

Oh well things may be a lot different next week in college football

This will be real interesting as to how it all unfolds

Tex is trying desperately to hold the big12 as a conference - nebraska and maybe mizzo want to leave for the big10 - then it's colorado - they want to go to pac10 or mtn west - if big 12 only looses 2 teams - they would pluck ark from the SEC and tcu from mtn west and still be the big 12 - or ND decides to go to the big10 - that stops a lot - they would prefer to be the 12th team and end it there - but they might still be forced to go to big10 if big10 raids the bigeast to fill out to 16 teams

Tex holds the key - I think their comish said something like we didn't start this - but we sure can finish it

The pac10 wants to expand - prefer 16 - thier first choice is 6 teams from the big12 - second would be some combo of maybe colorado and some teams out of the mtn west/wac - guess that's why boise state decided to hold off moving till this begins to unfold

If ND goes to the big10 and they stop at that - 12 - then the pac10 may only go to 12 and that would stop all this madness

Nebraska will kick this off and Texas will finish it

The only way the SEC comes out of this to the good is if it can get a texas team - if it goes that far