Big 12 to Pac-12? Oklahoma Ponders a Move
Comments by David Boren, the university president, on Friday erased that notion. His statement that Oklahoma will decide in the next three weeks if it will remain in the Big 12 was a blow to a league already hit hard by the departures of Colorado and Nebraska last year, and by the imminent loss of Texas A&M, which is mere formalities away from joining the Southeastern Conference. In the wake of Boren’s comments, a report in The Daily Oklahoman on Saturday afternoon declared that Oklahoma’s “sole focus” was leaving the Big 12 for the Pacific-12. The Pac-12 <a href="http://www.shopsellbags.com/"><strong> lv handbags</strong></a> Commissioner Larry Scott met with the news media before Louisiana State’s game against Oregon at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night and did not quell the Oklahoma speculation. “Schools have reached out to us,” Scott said, declining to address Oklahoma specifically. “We are not doing anything proactively, we are not initiating anything. But schools have called us.” Scott said he did not see the article in The Oklahoman and had no specific reaction to it. He stressed that he expected further expansion at some stage, something he has consistently referred to as “consolidation.” Scott added: “We don’t have any specific model or formula in mind. All I’ve said is that I expect that you will see further consolidation given the fragmentation of college sports.” Oklahoma State released a statement Saturday that essentially said that if Oklahoma left for the Pac-12, it would follow. This would meet the so-called Noah’s Ark model of the Pac-12, as each program — Oregon and Oregon State, for example — would have a partner for both travel and a regional television network. Scott nearly pulled off a 16-team super conference last year, a configuration that Texas pulled out of in the final stages after months of discussions. While feelings were contentious last year when Texas changed its mind, Scott stressed Saturday that he maintained good relationships with everyone. The big question, if Texas decided to follow Oklahoma, would be if the Longhorns’ new television network with ESPN could be folded into the current Pac-12 contract model, a model that includes equal revenue sharing, a conference network and six regional networks. The two keys to Texas joining the Pac-12 will be if the Longhorns agree to an equal revenue sharing model and adjust their network to adopt Texas Tech and match the current Pac-12 Noah’s Ark formula. (Texas Tech is expected to follow Texas, much like Oklahoma State with Oklahoma.) “We have a structure and contracts with partners for a network model that includes a national network and a regional network under the Pac-12 umbrella,” Scott said. “So we actually couldn’t do anything outside of that. We’re wedded to that model.” Texas does not have to follow Oklahoma, although that would appear to be the most likely scenario. The Longhorns have enough brand recognition and television exposure to exist independently like Notre Dame or Brigham Young. Regardless of what Texas does, the potential movement of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could put other conferences on the offensive in trying to add colleges to solidify their positions. Last year, the Big East engaged Kansas, Kansas <a href="http://www.shopsellbags.com"><strong>chanel handbags</strong></a> State and Missouri in discussions when the Big 12 looked fragile. There is a good possibility that the Big East will follow a similar path toward expansion, especially considering the addition of Texas Christian to the league for next season. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said by telephone after the Oklahoma news broke Saturday that he would not expect his league to feel pressure to start poaching schools. The Big Ten just added Nebraska to move it to 12 members. “For us, I don’t think it really changes a lot for us,” Delany said. “We’d likely not be reactive. That’s my take on it. We thought a lot about 12 to 14 and the 16 when we had the opportunity last year. I don’t think that our thinking will change by what others will do. I don’t know it will change for others. Our view, really, is that it’s about quality and not quantity.” Scott said there was “no prescribed protocol” for potentially adding colleges and declined to say whether he had met with any Big 12 colleges while in Texas. He said that he felt going to 12 teams was an important move for the Pac-12 in order to have a championship game and to be similar in size to competing conferences. Now that it is there, Scott made certain to stress that colleges were approaching the Pac-12, and that the league was not being predatory. For now, all that appears to be semantics. The seismic shift that college sports avoided last year is on the cusp of happening. The only safe prediction might be that if Oklahoma moves West, it will not be the last major conference move.
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