|  Author | Topic: Conference Realignment (Read 32,369 times) |
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|  | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #15 on Jun 13, 2010, 7:22pm » | |
Swarbrick: Notre Dame is fine
Amid all of the uproar over conference realignment, the powers that be at Notre Dame knew they had the power to put nearly all of this to rest. By simply joining the Big Ten, the Fighting Irish probably would have saved the conference system as we know it. Instead, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, as the dominoes fall all around him, had the audacity to say that the "changes don't impact Notre Dame." Good one, Swarbrick, good one.
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumor....ine?eref=fromSI
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #16 on Jun 14, 2010, 8:13am » | |
June 14, 2010
Tigers work to save thinning conference
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri curators met behind closed doors Sunday night for the fourth time in as many days as the school turns its attention to saving the Big 12 Conference after its apparent bid to join the Big Ten failed.
The meeting followed two days of discussions in Columbia amid a shifting landscape that saw fellow Big 12 members Colorado and Nebraska bolt for the Pac-10 and Big Ten, respectively.
Missouri was considered one of the top prospects for an expanded Big Ten, and the school could still wind up there as conference realignment continues to unfold.
For now, school officials are publicly pledging their loyalty to a 10-team Big 12 -- even as their counterparts in Texas and Oklahoma prepare for their own private meetings this week that could result in an exodus from the conference, with as many as five Big 12 teams possibly headed to the Pac-10.
Chancellor Brady Deaton told alumni in an e-mail he "will do everything possible to assure the success of the conference." He offered similar assurances Sunday night at a crowded news briefing on the steps of University Hall after the one-hour curator meeting, which resulted in no action.
He noted Missouri's century-old history with the schools that form the core of the Big 12 and its predecessors -- institutions such as Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State that are also faced with trying to save the conference.
"We have been a proud member of the Big Six, Big Seven and Big Eight, and we continue to take great pride in the accomplishments of the Big 12," Deaton wrote while noting Missouri's role in forming the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907. "Our position as a member for more than 100 years gives us a great appreciation for the tremendous value of our conference and a vital stake in its future."
Those words represent a sharp turn from Missouri's previously stated interest in exploring all its options with conference realignment.
But those earlier flirtations came before Nebraska's departure and assertions from both Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and Big 12 leader Dan Beebe that the oldest conference in Division I sports was not targeting any other Big 12 schools -- at least for the time being.
Missouri's interest in joining a bigger and broader Big Ten was met with criticism Friday from Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman, who cited public comments by Deaton, athletics director Mike Alden and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as fodder for the 14-year-old Big 12's possible collapse.
Alden responded by calling such assertions "silly" and "ridiculous." And University of Missouri system president Gary Forsee said the school bears no blame for simply protecting its self-interest.
"We were only doing what you would expect any institution, whether you're sitting here or in Lawrence, Kan., or Waco, Texas," Forsee said. "Did we contribute more or less than any other institution in the Big 12 or nationally? No. I think we've all been caught up in now this national discussion that certainly has spread beyond the Big Ten, and the Big 12 is certainly in the middle of that."
That would be the 10-team Big 12, as Deaton pointed out after struggling to differentiate Missouri's current home with the now 12-team Big Ten and 11-member Pac-10.
"We're working hard to strengthen the Big 12, or the Big Ten as it is right now. In other words,the 10 institutions left in the Big 12.
"Nomenclature is very difficult in this process," Deaton said.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5283314
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #17 on Jun 14, 2010, 9:58am » | |
Sources: Departure to Pac-10 coming
By Joe Schad
The departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 is imminent, four sources within the Big 12 said Monday.
One source said commissioner Dan Beebe's last-minute plan to save the conference has "zero" chance to succeed. Another source said it is "very unlikely" to succeed.
Texas' interests in being aligned with the research opportunities and academic missions of Pac-10 schools is driving the decision, along with money.
Beebe's last-ditch plan included an emotional plea about preserving rivalries and maintaining the best welfare of the student-athlete, one source said.
Texas A&M is now most likely to join the SEC, a source within the Big 12 said. This move, in the wake of Colorado and Nebraska's departure, would further diminish the chance of Beebe's plan succeeding, one source said.
Texas' decision is expected to come no later than Tuesday. One source familiar with Texas' plans suggested a hearing on Wednesday at the Texas House of Representatives is "a nonfactor."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5284375
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #18 on Jun 14, 2010, 2:23pm » | |
June 14, 2010
Reports: Texas considering Big 12 deal
The Texas Longhorns, based on a TV deal in the works that could pay them upwards of $25 million per year, are leaning toward staying in a 10-team Big 12 for the foreseeable future, Orangebloods.com has reported, citing sources familiar with negotiations.
Texas was meeting Monday with the other remaining nine schools in the Big 12 about a TV deal included in a plan put together by Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe that would keep the league intact with its current programs, according to multiple reports.
Texas stands to earn between $20 million and $25 million annually in television revenue, including money from its own network, in the reworked deal, according to Orangebloods.com.
The Longhorns network figures to generate between $3 million and $5 million, according to the report. Because the Big 12 has unequal revenue sharing, the deal will mean more money for Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, who all would receive at least $20 million annually from the new deal.
The other seven schools in the Big 12 would make between $14 million and $17 million, doubling what they currently receive in TV revenue.
Earlier Monday, ESPN reported that the departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 was "imminent," citing four sources within the Big 12.
The report said that Texas' interest in being aligned with the research opportunities and academic missions of Pac-10 schools is driving the decision, along with money.
But a source within the Big 12 told ESPN's Joe Schad that Texas president William Powers Jr. was working through Beebe's projections to determine if they compare financially with a proposal by Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott.
Part of those projections would likely include "adjustments" from television partners as well as future contracts that were more on par with the contracts of other conferences, the source said.
Earlier Monday, a source told Schad that Powers was taking a "global view" of the landscape, excited about the importance of aligning his school with research opportunities and academic reputations of schools in the Pac-10.
But clearly being able to come at least close to the Pac-10 financial projections, while being able to still launch a network, may have swayed Powers to change his mind. The source within the Big 12 said Beebe's plan was "gaining traction" with Powers.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5285680
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #19 on Jun 14, 2010, 6:56pm » | |
Texas says it is staying in the Big 12
Shortly after Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott confirmed to The Associated Press in an e-mail that the University of Texas had declined an invitation to join his conference, the Longhorns put out a statement saying they would "continue competing in the Big 12."
Oklahoma and Texas A&M also say they will stay in the Big 12, which on Friday seemed in danger of falling apart after Nebraska and Colorado both decided to leave over the next two years.
"The decision to stay in the Big 12 represents a consensus position which resulted from a collaborative effort with our colleagues in the conference," Oklahoma president David L. Boren and vice president and director of athletics Joe Castiglione said in a joint statement. "We value the strong working relationship that has been reaffirmed during this process among the conference members. We intend to work very hard to make the conference as lasting and dynamic as possible. We appreciate the respect and interest that has been shown to OU during this process."
Texas president William Powers Jr. wouldn't give any details about why the school decided to stay put when asked by the AP. Texas has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe will also address the media on a teleconference at noon ET on Tuesday.
Texas had a meeting Monday with the other remaining nine schools in the Big 12 about a TV deal included in a plan put together by Beebe that would keep the league intact with its current programs, according to multiple reports.
Based on a TV deal in the works that could pay upwards of $25 million per year, Texas leaned toward staying in a 10-team Big 12 for the foreseeable future, Orangebloods.com reported, citing sources familiar with negotiations.
Texas stands to earn between $20 million and $25 million annually in television revenue in the reworked deal, including money from its own network, according to Orangebloods.com.
The Longhorns network figures to generate between $3 million and $5 million, according to the Orangebloods.com report. Because the Big 12 has unequal revenue sharing, the deal will mean more money for Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, who all would receive at least $20 million annually from the new deal.
"Everybody is feeling much more confident the Big 12 is going to survive," a person with direct knowledge of discussions told The Associated Press. "Everybody's going to be making more money."
Big 12 officials have told member schools that the loss of the Denver television market and Nebraska would not weaken the league's negotiating position with TV networks as much as feared, the person said.
The other seven schools in the Big 12 would make between $14 million and $17 million, doubling what they currently receive in TV revenue.
Earlier Monday, ESPN reported the departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 was "imminent," citing four sources within the Big 12.
A source told ESPN's Joe Schad that Powers was taking a "global view" of the landscape, excited about the importance of aligning his school with research opportunities and academic reputations of schools in the Pac-10.
But clearly being able to come at least close to the Pac-10 financial projections, while being able to still launch a network, may have swayed Powers to change his mind.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5286672
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #20 on Jun 15, 2010, 7:52pm » | |
June 15, 2010
Thompson: Scott hasn't contacted him
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. -- Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson says he was told Monday by Utah's athletic director that the university had not been contacted by the Pac-10.
Thompson was attending a meeting of conference commissioners in northern California on Tuesday. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott was not in attendance.
Thompson says Scott has not contacted him since the Pac-10's invitation to Texas was declined Monday. The Pac-10 was hoping to add the Longhorns and four other Big 12 schools to form a 16-team conference. But Texas and the rest decided to stay put. The Pac-10 is one member short of the 12 it needs to hold a football championship game.
Utah has been speculated as being the Pac-10's next target.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5289403
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #22 on Jun 16, 2010, 7:31pm » | |
June 16, 2010
Arkansas not leaving SEC
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long says the school has "no interest" in joining another conference amid speculation that the Razorbacks could be a candidate to move to the Big 12.
Long said Wednesday that Arkansas is happy in the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 recently lost Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-10, leaving it with 10 members.
Arkansas left the Southwest Conference and joined the SEC in 1991. Some of its old rivals from the Southwest Conference -- such as Texas and Texas A&M -- now play in the Big 12.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5294472
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #23 on Jun 16, 2010, 7:32pm » | |
June 16, 2010
Utah invited to PAC-10
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah is poised to become the 12th member of the Pac-10, as the conference quickly pivoted Wednesday to invite the Utes after being turned down by Texas and four other members of the Big 12 two days ago.
Utah officials did not immediately say whether the invitation would be accepted. However, a source tells ESPN that Utah will join the Pac-10.
Utah associate athletic director Liz Abel said the athletics department would not comment until Thursday after the school's board of trustees meets to discuss the school's conference affiliation. A news conference was scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at the football stadium following the meeting.
Pac-10 officials are expected to attend Thursday's news conference in Utah.
Utah has been a member of the MWC since the league began in 1999 -- and one of its most successful in football and basketball.
There had been speculation on Tuesday that Utah would be the next school to be approached by the Pac-10. When asked about the possibility, school president Michael Young told The Associated Press "we wouldn't anticipate making a move of this magnitude without the concurrence of our board of trustees."
Utah would not have to pay a penalty to depart the MWC, per conference rules.
A message left with Randy Dryer, chairman of the board of trustees, was not immediately returned Wednesday. If Utah bolts the Mountain West, it would be the latest in a string of conference affiliation changes.
Last week, Colorado decided to leave the Big 12 and accept an invitation to join the Pac-10. Nebraska also has said it will leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten, while Boise State is fleeing the Western Athletic Conference to join the Mountain West.
The Mountain West called a news conference for Thursday after Utah's.
Earlier in the week, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State recommitted to the Big 12 instead of hopping to the Pac-10.
That left the Pac-10 in need of another member to reach the 12 required to hold a football championship game. Pac-10 spokeswoman Danette Leighton declined to say when Utah would begin competing in the Pac-10 if it accepts the conference's invitation.
The addition of Utah now gives Colorado a geographical rival and travel partner. The league is likely to divide into two six-team divisions, and how that will shake out is unclear.
The other members of the Pac-10 are USC, UCLA, Stanford, California, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon and Oregon State. Utah had already previously scheduled games with Oregon in 2011, and Washington State and Colorado in 2012 and 2013.
Utah officials have long been frustrated about their inability to play for a football national championship while in the Mountain West. Utah had an undefeated season in 2008 but was not invited to the national title game. It defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Utah also went undefeated in 2004 and did not play for the national championship.
Under the Bowl Championship Series, the champions of six conferences have automatic bids to play in top-tier bowl games, while the other conferences such as the Mountain West don't. Those six conferences also receive more money than the other conferences.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, angered that the Utes were denied an opportunity to play for a national title, has said he's investigating the BCS for possible antitrust violations.
He said although Utah is Exhibit A as to why the BCS is unfair, the investigation would continue if Utah changed conferences. He plans to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice in July to discuss the matter.
"We're convinced the system as set up is anticompetitive," he said. "It goes way beyond the University of Utah."
Utah lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, also have expressed their frustrations with the BCS.
Last year, the state legislature adopted a resolution calling for a playoff system to determine college football's national champion after an undefeated Utah was shut out of the national title game for the second time in four years.
Utah's lawmakers contend the BCS formula is flawed and gives schools from the major conferences an unfair advantage that would make it impossible for a school such as the Mountain West's Brigham Young University to win the national title, as the Cougars did in 1984 when they were a member of the WAC.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5293329
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #24 on Jun 17, 2010, 10:17am » | |
Utah to join Pac 10 today
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #25 on Jun 17, 2010, 6:08pm » | |
June 17, 2010
Lawmakers push Houston for Big 12
HOUSTON -- About two dozen Texas lawmakers are supporting efforts to get the University of Houston admitted to the Big 12 Conference.
State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Bill Callegari, both from the Houston area, co-wrote a letter Thursday asking Big 12 officials to consider adding the university to the conference.
"UH is the third largest university in Texas, and is on track to rank among the top research universities in this state," the letter says. "Despite UH's local and statewide prominence, the university does not belong to a strong BCS conference such as the Big 12. The Cougars, the city of Houston, and the state of Texas deserve better."
Houston is a member of Conference USA and was a member of the Southwest Conference until 1995.
Conference USA officials did not immediately respond Thursday to messages left by The Associated Press. Big 12 officials said commissioner Dan Beebe was not available to comment.
The Big 12 is set to lose two schools after Nebraska committed to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-10. Beebe has said the league has no plans to add any teams from within its five-state area, which includes Texas.
Coleman said he is not deterred by Beebe's stance.
"I don't quit," Coleman told the Houston Chronicle. "I don't start something I'm not going to finish. If I didn't think this was a worthy endeavor, I wouldn't have started it. This is the beginning of this effort, not the end."
Earlier this week, Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder said he believed that any new member of the Big 12 would have to bring $15 million in value.
"I don't really think right now that there's anybody that brings that kind of value, and then it would complicate matters if you had 11 schools," he said. "I think 10's a good number. I really believe that it gives our conference champion a better chance to advance to the BCS Championship Game."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5298393
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Rush the Court
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #26 on Jun 17, 2010, 6:09pm » | |
June 17, 2010
Mountain West: No more expansion
The Mountain West Conference added one school, lost another.
Now it's done with expansion.
After gaining Boise State and losing Utah to the Pac-10, the Mountain West has decided to stand pat as a nine-team league for the foreseeable future.
Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said Thursday that despite inquiries from about 10 other schools, the conference likely will remain unchanged for at least the next three to five years.
The Mountain West had been linked to teams in the Big 12 North, but Texas' decision to turn down the Pac-10 kept the conference intact.
With no other marquee schools to pursue, Mountain West officials decided to keep the current structure rather than try to reconfigure its football schedules for 10 or 12 teams.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5299078
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Rush the Court
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #27 on Jun 17, 2010, 6:10pm » | |
June 17, 2010
Utah excited by Pac-10 acceptance
SALT LAKE CITY -- The University of Utah accepted an invitation to become the 12th member of the newly expanded Pac-10 Conference on Thursday.
"Today is an absolutely great day to be a Ute," athletic director Chris Hill said before he was interrupted by applause during a news conference.
The room was packed with Utah dignitaries, boosters and dozens of red and white balloon bouquets. University president Michael Young made it official by signing the agreement, bringing another extended round of applause.
The announcement was held at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes have enjoyed two undefeated seasons in the past six years. The Utes received invitations to the Bowl Championship Series in 2004 and 2008, but both were at-large bids. Utah is the first team from a non-BCS conference to reach the premier bowls twice.
"I don't really know if you can compare the two, but there's a lot of the same feelings and a lot of the same excitement going on right now," football coach Kyle Whittingham said.
By joining the Pac-10, the Utes' BCS-busting days are ending. After playing one final season in the Mountain West, Utah will join the Pac-10 -- or whatever the expanded league's name will become -- in 2011. There is a guaranteed BCS spot for the Pac-10 winner, but that will mean getting through a schedule of one of college football's most prominent conferences.
"First and foremost, the reason this has happened is because the athletes that we've had at the University of Utah have worked so hard and done so much to put this program on the map," Whittingham said. "That really is where the lion's share of the credit goes to."
Young noted that the Utes are 7-3 against the Pac-10 in the last 10 meetings, including wins over Arizona in 2004 and Oregon State four years later during the Utes' two unbeaten runs to the BCS.
The leap takes the Utes from the Mountain West, where national television appearances are rare, to the major markets of the Pac-10. Hill pointed out that representatives from the Rose Bowl were on hand for Thursday's announcement.
The Utes were the only unbeaten team in 2008, and they didn't get a chance to play in the BCS title game. A rout of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl bolstered Utah's claims of being worthy. The Utes ended up finishing No. 2 in the final AP poll -- the school's highest finish.
The Utes also have strong programs in men's and women's basketball, and women's gymnastics that could immediately compete in the Pac-10. In sports such as baseball and tennis, the Utes will be making a tremendous leap in competition.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5298238
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #28 on Jun 17, 2010, 8:04pm » | |
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=5295267
10 reasons your school wasn't invitedEmail Print Comments
By Jerry Greene
Special to Page 2
Wasn't it funny?
We're talking about the week of NCAA conference realignment, which saw a great deal of posturing and little actual change.
• Funniest was the number Texas did on the Pac-10, at least briefly turning the Pac-10 into the Pac-11. ("Colorado? How did we get stuck with Colorado? Utah? Seriously?")
• Then there was Kansas, so proud of its men's basketball program until it realized that its basketball and $7.50 would get it a caramel vanilla latte at Starbucks.
• How about Missouri? One of the first to begin bragging about making a move out of the Big 12 only to end up not being asked to dance by anyone else. ("Of course we're dedicated to preserving the Big 12. We love it here.")
• And don't forget Texas A&M and its phone calls to the SEC. ("Great hearing from you, Texas A&M. Say, how close are you to Texas?")
And to wrap up this silliness, we asked you to provide the one-liners and cheap shots to comprise a list of reasons why your school won't be invited by anybody else. Most of you picked a specific school and took your shot. Some chose their own school. And a few simply provided generic cheap shots that could be applied to any school with delusions of grandeur.
You did good work. Here it is:
Top 10 Reasons Nobody Is Going To Invite Your School Into Their Conference
10. Syracuse: "Akron, Maine and Colgate are your football schedule." -- Mitch C., Rochester, N.Y.
9. Mississippi State: "No cowbells! They're worse than those vuvuzela horns." -- M. Vincent, Birmingham, Ala.
8. Tulane: "Sells beer like the pros, plays football like junior high." -- Alex S., Randolph, Mass.
7. UNLV: "Misspelled UNLV on transfer application." -- Stevie D., Las Vegas
6. Southern Illinois: "Nobody knows what a Saluki is and is afraid to ask." -- Jonathan H., Southeast Ky.
5. Northern Illinois: "They fear the barbed wire." (DeKalb is the barbed wire capital of the world, don't you know?) -- Mark M., Monee, Ill.
4. Wright State: "Never lost a football game." (Of course, the Raiders don't play football.) -- Bernadette V., Cleveland
3. Generic: "None of our players have been arrested, so we won't fit it." -- Jordan B., Baltimore
2. Generic: "Six consecutive national championships in LARP." -- Travis H., Flagstaff, Ariz.
1. Wesleyan: "Because you can't run a slant pattern in Birkenstocks." -- Josh C., Roslyn, N.Y.
There they are -- but wait! We're not quite done. Galen P., who attended San Francisco State, gets a special "Best of Show" award for the following five-pack:
• "Our games are on the Oxygen Network."
• "Our kicker is a goat."
• "JaMarcus Russell is our quarterback coach."
• "We invented the vuvuzela."
• "We started the wave."
Don't bother answering the phone, San Francisco State, 'cause nobody is going to call.
Thanks to all who contributed. There's one thing of which we can be certain: No matter what we think up, the real schools will do something funnier.
Jerry Greene is a retired columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at osogreene@aol.com
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| | Re: Conference Realignment begins
« Reply #29 on Jun 23, 2010, 10:11pm » | |
Oklahoma president: OU, Texas A&M got invites from SEC
June 23, 2010
ARDMORE, Okla. -- The president of Oklahoma said Wednesday that his school and Texas A&M both received invitations to join the Southeastern Conference during the last round of conference realignment.
Although Oklahoma ended up remaining in the Big 12, university president David Boren said the Sooners had offers from both the SEC and the Pac-10. Boren spoke with reporters after a regents meeting for almost 40 minutes about the conference realignment process.
"I'll put it this way -- we were well positioned for whatever worked out," Boren said.
SEC spokesman Craig Pinkerton said he was "not in a position to comment" on what Boren said. Boren declined to say who in the SEC issued the invitation, only that that person had the authority to do so.
Boren said the Pac-10 offer was for five Big 12 schools -- Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech -- to join as a group. Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott visited the schools earlier this month to extend the invitations.
"The invitation was really to the group," Boren said. "It had to be, because you couldn't have our teams all flying to the Pacific coast every week to play games. There had to be an eastern division of schools."
Boren said the SEC extended offers only to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, both of which opted to stay in a slimmed-down Big 12 after Colorado left for the Pac-10 and Nebraska left for the Big Ten. Because the SEC offer didn't include two of the Sooners' key rivals, Oklahoma State and Texas, Boren said he didn't consider it a good option.
"There was a time when A&M thought they were going to the SEC and they very much wanted us to go with them," Boren said. "Oklahoma, in the whole thing, we were positioned in a way where virtually we could not have lost."
Last Friday, Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis confirmed that his school "never had an offer" from the SEC, "so it was never anything to consider." Both he and Boren expressed a strong interest in sticking together through any future conference realignment.
"Had the Pac-10 thing fallen apart, had the Big 12 minus two not been put back together, we would have probably ended up having much more serious conversations with the SEC, and [asked] would they take OSU and Texas, for example," Boren said. "It never got to that."
Boren characterized the Pac-10 offer as one that obviously had been researched and planned, while the SEC's offer was "more of a reaction to the situation. When they saw that the Big 12 might be no more, that all the schools might go somewhere else, they then started thinking about 'Who would we want?"'
Scott said the Pac-10 offer went nowhere because Texas decided against it. Boren said it "basically fell apart because of the difference of opinion in Texas" regarding Texas A&M's interest in the SEC.
"One school doesn't like the other one to tell them what to do," Boren said, referring to Texas and Texas A&M.
Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin was out of his office Wednesday. In a June 14 letter posted on the school's website, he said that by remaining a member of the Big 12, "We were able to more than double our financial return to the levels being offered by other conferences."
Loftin added that another consideration in staying in the conference was maintaining Texas A&M's "strong foothold" in the state and preserving longtime rivalries.
Big 12 athletic directors met this week in Irving, Texas, to discuss the conference's future. Commissioner Dan Beebe said the Big 12 has "no interest in expansion" and that it was "not a consideration" at the meeting.
"There is a great deal of excitement about the future of the conference," Beebe said in a statement. "Our member institutions look forward to the continuation of excellent competition and providing outstanding experiences for our student-athletes. The 10-school model is one that is extremely attractive and provides the opportunity for continued long-term success."
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball....llegebasketball
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