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Bruce Feldman - Twitter said:
@BFeldmanESPN RT @ChipBrownOB: Texas A&M turned down invite to join Pac-10 in mtg today with Larry Scott in College Station, a Big 12 AD confirms. about 3 hours ago

One team wouldn't kill the whole deal, do you think?

I think Utah needs to make sure and be sittin' by the phone! :)


EDIT: Or, perhaps that's an "in" for Baylor? If the PAC chooses Baylor over Utah then they're crazy.
 
One team wouldn't kill the whole deal, do you think?

I think Utah needs to make sure and be sittin' by the phone! :)


EDIT: Or, perhaps that's an "in" for Baylor? If the PAC chooses Baylor over Utah then they're crazy.

Pretty sure that Kansas would be the first target to replace A&M in the expansion.
 
One team wouldn't kill the whole deal, do you think?

I think Utah needs to make sure and be sittin' by the phone! :)


EDIT: Or, perhaps that's an "in" for Baylor? If the PAC chooses Baylor over Utah then they're crazy.

Even if A&M elects to go the SEC route, that won't kill the Pac-16. UT is the real cash cow here, and if they can take OU with them then all the better. Word is that Cal balked at the idea of having a Christian school (not to mention a Southern Baptist one) join the Pac-10, so that pretty effectively killed Baylor's chances of getting in regardless of what A&M does.

Utah would probably have the slight edge over Kansas, but Larry Scott is supposedly headed to Lawrence tomorrow (after a whirlwind trip around the states of Texas and Oklahoma this weekend), so hang on tight.

I think A&M needs to stay away from the SEC. As does any other semi-decent team. It's hard enough for us to win anything as it is! Plus, the SEC already has one maroon and white wearing A&M school. That's all it needs. :)

Sorry, bro, but I think (hope) you might not get that wish. Word around here is that the A&M Board of Regents will be meeting on Thursday to put the final stamp on heading to the SEC. Of course, this is all rumor and innuendo until an official announcement is made, and even if the SEC has the edge right now, many things could happen between now and then, but right now all signs point to the Aggies being the 13th SEC team sometime this week.

If this really happens, Gene Stallings is my new hero.
 
If this really happens, Gene Stallings is my new hero.

If this really happens they can't possibly stop at 13 teams and still expect to have a conference championship game.

So who else do they grab?



EDIT: I don't really blame them, but I can't help but laugh at Missouri. They were happy as could be when they had the Big Ten's attention, but now they're scrambling. I think it's hilarious. :)

EDIT2: Apparently the PAC-X Commish didn't make it to Kansas...
 
If this really happens they can't possibly stop at 13 teams and still expect to have a conference championship game.

So who else do they grab?

Virginia Tech and North Carolina seem to be the names mentioned the most. Miami, Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech are other names that make sense, but have been reported to be off the table. Supposedly the SEC is also making a pitch to OU, but they might be tied to Oklahoma State because of the current power structure of the Oklahoma state government.

I've also heard that an announcement on A&M could come soon, but a 14th team might not be added for a while. Since it would be at least 14 months before A&M would start SEC play, if they do, indeed, join that conference, the addition of another team would not have to be immediate.


EDIT: I don't really blame them, but I can't help but laugh at Missouri. They were happy as could be when they had the Big Ten's attention, but now they're scrambling. I think it's hilarious. :)

EDIT2: Apparently the PAC-X Commish didn't make it to Kansas...

Everyone in Big 12 country is laughing at Missouri. After all their preening for the Big 10, they are now falling all over themselves to talk about how much they love the Big 12. Screw them.

As for Larry Scott not making it to Kansas City, that is an interesting twist. Makes you wonder if they had to stay in Austin because they hit a speed bump.
 
Utah would probably have the slight edge over Kansas, but Larry Scott is supposedly headed to Lawrence tomorrow (after a whirlwind trip around the states of Texas and Oklahoma this weekend), so hang on tight.

It's cool, Scott has already been in SLC (came on Friday). I think we're in.


My whole theory is that Utah may be being played as a contingency against Texass Tech. Tech is the one school in this scenario that has no academic, or athletic business in the PAC, so the PAC used a preemptive Colorado invite to muscle out Baylor (bad fit culturally). Now they have a Tech problem still there, Utah could have been preemptively invited in order to muscle Tech out of the picture. Now that A&M appears to likely be out of the picture, Kansas could serve to force Tech out as well.

If that happens, the PAC will own Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and at least 50% of Texas. That's huge!

Sources here are saying that Utah has already signed, but can't announce until later in the week after Scott has made every pitch possible to Texas to leave the Big 12. Either way, we know that if it wasn't 16 teams then Colorado and Utah were pretty much the top two teams on that list. This contingency would guarantee the 12 team to plan to fall into place if the 16 team plan falls through.

Guess we'll have to see, but if I was a betting man my money would be with Utah.
 
Well, good luck to the Utes. I would laugh pretty hard if Tech ended up getting left out, but I don't think it will happen.

Just read a story that UT is supposedly going to issue its support for a ten-team Big 12 today, thus putting pressure on A&M to stick with them, or making the Aggies the latest scapegoat for the death of the Big 12 (since Nebraska's balls were too huge to be worried by such trivialities), but ESPN's Joe Schad tweeted this just now:

The departure of Texas, Texas Tech, OU and OSU to Pac-10 is imminent, four Big 12 sources say

Interesting times...
 
Numerous reports are now saying that the Big 12 could just stay as a ten team league, with the Longhorns developing their own network in addition to a league-wide network. This could eventually net them $20-25 million in TV revenue per year. This is still contingent on A&M not leaving for the SEC, however.

As a Michigan/B10 fan, I think these are the next steps from their perspective:
- I think if the B10 couldn't get UT and ND, ND becomes the sole endgame
- In order to get ND into the B10, one of two things needs to happen... either 1) the Big East tells ND to join fully, or GTFO or 2) the threat of imploding the Big East as a major football conference becomes too great for ND to ignore
- To accomplish 2), I think the B10 will look to add two, maybe three Big East schools (choose from among Rutgers/Pitt/Syracuse/UConn), I think two will be enough
- Once the two Big East schools and ND have joined the fold, the B10 needs one more school to get to the mythical 16-team conference size that seems to be such the rage in the media
- I think that last school could be anyone from Missouri (meh), to a wild-card that hasn't gotten a lot of mention in the media (Boston College, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech could be outside-the-box possibilities)
- This then precipitates the cataclysmic domino doomsday scenario where the Big East, as a football conference implodes, and we are left with four to five 16-team super conferences (PAC-16, Big 10/16, ACC, SEC, etc.)
 
Under that scenario what happens to the basketball landscape. Is it worth it to ruin the NCAA just to get some money for football.
 
Under that scenario what happens to the basketball landscape. Is it worth it to ruin the NCAA just to get some money for football.

That has been one of my questions. All this TV exposure is great for the money making sports, but what about non-revenue producing sports? I can't imagine how much it would cost for something like the soccer or lacrosse teams to travel from somewhere like Austin to Corvallis. I can only imagine how painful it would be for teams that play lots of games like basketball or baseball.
 
I'd rather see the Longhorns just go to the Pac-10. I have no love for the Big 12 - it's not like there's a lot of history there anyway. A Longhorn network doesn't do anything for me either. It'll be wrapped up in some package I'll have to purchase from the cable company, and with it I'll get sixteen other channels worth of women's curling and bass fishing.
 
That has been one of my questions. All this TV exposure is great for the money making sports, but what about non-revenue producing sports? I can't imagine how much it would cost for something like the soccer or lacrosse teams to travel from somewhere like Austin to Corvallis. I can only imagine how painful it would be for teams that play lots of games like basketball or baseball.
The Big East is a power house for basketball right now, if the few 1A football schools leave, UConn, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, what happens to the rest of the league. I don't see how this helps the fans or the players at all. All this is is a money grab for the football conferences. Fans are not going to be able to travel and all of the big rivalries will be blown apart. I wonder what the long term effects will be on football if this realignment happens. It could do damage long term to all of college sports.
 
The Big East is a power house for basketball right now, if the few 1A football schools leave, UConn, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, what happens to the rest of the league. I don't see how this helps the fans or the players at all. All this is is a money grab for the football conferences. Fans are not going to be able to travel and all of the big rivalries will be blown apart. I wonder what the long term effects will be on football if this realignment happens. It could do damage long term to all of college sports.

While your concerns are absolutely valid, college football's screwed up post season systems require schlools to but football first when talking about what conference to be in. With college basketball, even a Butler can make it to the championship game.

However, the travel problem with the 16 team super conferences is a real concern. Sports that play often like basketball will spend all of their time traveling and studies will take an even further back seat.

P-Worm
 
While your concerns are absolutely valid, college football's screwed up post season systems require schlools to but football first when talking about what conference to be in. With college basketball, even a Butler can make it to the championship game.

However, the travel problem with the 16 team super conferences is a real concern. Sports that play often like basketball will spend all of their time traveling and studies will take an even further back seat.

P-Worm
This system won't help the football playoffs either. If you have 4 mega conferences the smaller schools will have no shot at all at the BCS. They have a slim chance now but at least they have a chance.
 
This system won't help the football playoffs either. If you have 4 mega conferences the smaller schools will have no shot at all at the BCS. They have a slim chance now but at least they have a chance.

Oh I agree with you. I think the super conferences is actually a step back from what we have now. I'm just saying that there is a reason bigger than just money for the schools to put football first when it comes to expansion talks.

P-Worm
 
Oh I agree with you. I think the super conferences is actually a step back from what we have now. I'm just saying that there is a reason bigger than just money for the schools to put football first when it comes to expansion talks.

P-Worm
Who is going to see all this money, not the students, tuition will still go up the fans will still be paying more. This is college sports at its worst.
 
Who is going to see all this money, not the students, tuition will still go up the fans will still be paying more. This is college sports at its worst.

Reread my post. I said it was bigger than just money. If the 16 team conferences happen, you're school better be on the inside, or you have no chance to win a championship.

P-Worm
 
Reread my post. I said it was bigger than just money. If the 16 team conferences happen, you're school better be on the inside, or you have no chance to win a championship.

As long as there's no playoff, there'll never be a real championship. Just a team on top of a poll driven by opinion.
 
Too add to that it looks like OU stays as well.
Oklahoma is also staying put, the school announced.

"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 A&M will also continue as a member of the Big 12, a school source told ESPN's Kelly Naqi.

Texas A&M regent Gene Stallings said earlier Monday he wanted the Big 12 to survive and would vote to keep the Aggies in the league if they don't get a much better offer. Stallings told The Associated Press that keeping the Big 12 together "would tickle me to death."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5286672
 
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