If the Pac-12 wouldn't take BYU, there's no way in freezing hell they'd take Baylor. The only question about Baylor if we and Texas jump ship is how many lawyers and PR firms they'd hire to cry, whine, and threaten publicly for them about being left behind. Having Baylor on board is truly like agreeing to let your girlfriend's little brother tag along to the movies with you: a complete cockblock of a situation.
The Pac-12 president guy came from the tennis world and is strictly a marketing guy - that is why Oklahoma State not appealing to them. What do they have to offer the Pac-12 brand? Outside of Oklahoma, OSU means Ohio State to the rest of the country.
And, badger, I agree with you on Pickens...it would be hard for him to keep his mouth shut if he knew something about Texas' intentions.
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
President Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
President Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987
Colorado was given the invite to block Baylor when it looked like 6 Big-12s were joining the Pac-10 to make the Pac-16 ... UT, A&M, OU, oSu, Tech, and one other. Colorado was a quick add to head off Baylor trying to tag along. When the whole idea fell apart Utah was added to get them to the magic number of 12.
Gig 'Em and God Bless
Beware the man who would rule you for your own good. He will never cease. He will regulate every aspect of your life, destroy your liberty and enslave you, and sleep well convinced that he has made the world a better place.
Notre Dame isn't stupid enough to go Big 12.
BYU is a mistake on multiple levels. Besides, their following is less than you think (this coming from a Mormon). Adding West Virginia meant we pretty much have to go east for expansion. I think the Cincy-Memphis thing could be a real possibility. Let's hope they don't go crazy and invite more crappy schools to get to 14 or 16 (UCF, USF, ECU, etc). I believe there will be (long term) comparisons to the old Big East.
On a related note...this subject HAS to concern Texas, right? Their only out is nixing the LHN (no other conference would allow it). Are they that stupid? I wonder what would have happened if OU, OSU, and TT (and the Pac) said we were going with them or without them (to force their hand). I doubt they want SEC or to be left on an island with the ACC or Big 10.
My first preference was the Pac 16 but I'm quickly becoming open to other scenarios. I know people don't think we are tied to Texas but I see wisdom in it. But LHN must die.
Do we care what happens to Baylor? Baylor is Baylor's problem. If we can get into the Pac-12 - and theorizing that Texas is also invited - it's none of our concern what happens to everyone else.
For all I care, they can go full Big East II and invite Cincy, Memphis, Houston, and SMU in an attempt to make it an attractive basketball conference. SMU isn't horrible anymore with Larry Brown there. And, Houston has Kelvin Sampson, so maybe they'll finally be decent again.
The could call it the Big Midwest:
South
Baylor
TCU
Houston
Oklahoma State
SMU
Texas Tech
North
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State
Cincinnati
Memphis
West Virginia
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
President Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987
BYU would be the biggest joke! We have TWO too many private schools now! And this one comes with demands! They don't have as great a following as people think as NO ONE ELSE WANTS THEM! And the Big 12 has NO USE FOR THEM either!
I vote for the lifeboat as well. This conference is going nowhere at this time.
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Bleeding Sooner Red on the East Coast since 2000.
OU should just go independant and schedule whoever the hell they want.
I would agree with you but then we'd both be wrong.
What a craptacular CF OU is in right now. We decided to suck on ut's teat, but then are anchored to freakin' Pork U. If we'd had any foresight, we would have taken hands with a&m and jumped to the SEC, leaving Mizzou behind in the dust along with the rest of this sorry conference.
OSU hates to be called Li'l Brother? Let them prove it. Let OU go and show us what a fine establishment you are. I still think the SEC would take us as they have room to grow to 16, though I don't know who comes with us. Honestly, I'd like it to be WV, but I think the SEC for whatever reason already shot them down.
Ah geez, what a bunch of chicken littles.
Right now the SEC is the only conference better than ours, and the Pac-12 is right beside us. Every other conference is worse than ours.
This is ONE time that we didn't get our top team in the playoffs. It's not like this has happened over and over. It was just the perfect storm of two 11-1 teams splitting votes, TCU collapsing in the 4th quarter at Waco, tOSU obliterating Wisconsin in a fashion nobody expected, and Baylor suffering from non-conference scheduling decisions they made when they needed every possible win just to have a chance at bowl eligibility.
Had Alabama stumbled against Auburn or Mizzou, the SEC wouldn't have a representative, either. Same goes for Pac-12 if Oregon hadn't avenged their Arizona loss. Same for Big 10 had tOSU not destroyed Wisconsin. Same goes for FSU if they had lost any of their many close games.
We're just fine.
IMHO expansion is an over reaction and a move ignoring one of the key reasons Baylor was left out ... a pitifully weak OOC. The first lesson in all of this is that OOC matters ... and Baylor failed in that regard. Schedule better and this might not have been an issue.
In the long term ... I still hope OU can end up in a Pac-16 conference with UT, oSu, and Tech
Gig 'Em and God Bless