More shakeup news

[BullsFanInTX]

Texas now seems to be forcing the Pac 10 to take Baylor instead of Colorado.

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1091406&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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.

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.

(The CU football team is 16-33 the past four years, and the hoops team has made the NCAA Tournament twice in the last 41 years. Baylor's football isn't much better at 15-33, but the Bears' hoops program is on the rise.)

"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.

[usf97]

Good article.

This actually makes a lot of sense. Stewart Mandel had an article that addressed a lot of this and the one thing that stood out to me was Baylor.

The Texas legislature had made a big deal about getting all of those schools together the 1st time around and Mandel made a point that they would have an issue about letting them be split up.

It would make sense to placate the Texans and take Baylor to get UT. I don't really understand what the big deal about not being able to have their own UT network. Would it really pay them that much more than $20 million?

Seems like a win-win for everybody.....well everybody except Colorado....and Kansas, KSU and ISU.

[Guest]

Not really sure I understand why the Legislature would care that much about Baylor - a PRIVATE school.  Houston and UTEP are both PUBLIC schools - so it would make more sense for the state legislature to care about state schools.

Things could get very dicey... and I bet the Pac 10 would call the Texas Legislature's bluff.

[BullsFanInTX]

Nebraska and Missouri have been given deadlines of Friday.  If they don't respond by then, the B12 is dead.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/bohls/entries/2010/06/05/nebraska_missou.html

Nebraska, Missouri given deadline

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.â€

[bullwark]

Numerous Texas Politicians are graduates of Baylor that is why there is a push to have them included in the Pac-Texas Deal..

[usf97]

When the SWC was dissolving and the schools mixed with the Big Eight schools, the Governor of Texas was a Baylor alumni. I think she was a large player in Baylor being included.

It is surprising that Rice was left out in the cold but I guess that is politics for ya.  Rice and Baylor were like the only ones that weren't on probation for something back then.

[usf97]

I like that ultimatum. Seems kind of stupid to me. I think we know how this conversation is going to go.

Big 12: Ok Mizzou and Nebraska, you are our problem here. You have to tell us you are staying or else......

Nebraska: Or else what?!?

Big 12: Or else six of us will leave. You have till Friday to tell us your answer.

Nebraska: (Not sure if Big 10 invite is coming) Ok we'll stay.

Mizzou: (thinking about $20 million payout from Big 10) Go F&%# yourself!

Big 12: Ok well, how about we give you till next Tuesday maybe to think about it?

Mizzou: Um...let me think....stay here, Texas gets all the money, I get $7 million or go to Big Ten and get $20 million. Hmmmm....

          You can take your ultimatum and.......

         

This is going to be pretty funny. 

[Doc]

How risky would this be for Mizzou to tell them to shove it?  If the Big10 doesn't take them, and widespread expansion doesn't materialize (lots of IF's), I see their absolute worst case scenario as landing in the BigEast (to replace a Big10 defector or ND), but still in the BCS.  How much of that $7M would they end up losing?

Now if the Big10 somehow stays at 11 and nothing else happens (except TCU to replace Mizzou), I don't know which BCS cponference would fit them in.  Maybe still us, with another non-football member to make it 18.

[tampabull]

sounds like the pac 10 will be the biggest winner out of realignment.  Unless the big 10 can land ND it's not going to be as big of news than the pac 10.  I think ND is going to cave though.  mwc could be big winners also if they pick up colorado, kansas, kstate, iowa state.  I think the big east should grow some and invite kansas, kstate, iowa state first.  Then find another football school to make a 12 team football conference, and a 20 team basketball juggernaut. 

[bulldozier1]

Doc, I don't think Mizzou would tell the Big 12 to shove it, if they didn't word from the Big 10. If there's smoke, there's fire.