June 14, 2010
Sources say Texas will commit to 10-member Big 12
Chip Brown
Orangebloods.com Columnist
In a bombshell development that could bring a halt to seismic changes in college realignment, sources tell Orangebloods.com Texas has been convinced by a plan presented by commissioner Dan Beebe to stay in a 10-member Big 12.
UT officials are expected to announce their decision to remain in the Big 12 as early as Monday.
Such a move would appear to end a courtship between Texas and the Pac-10, which all but seemed solidified as of Friday when Nebraska announced it was heading to the Big Ten and Colorado had a press conference with its new commissioner - Larry Scott of the Pac-10.
But as it became clear over the weekend that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State appeared ready join the Pac-10 and Texas A&M appeared ready to join the SEC, Beebe was able to obtain assurances that a TV deal could be reached paying each of the 10 remaining members of the Big 12 between $14 million and $17 million.
Under Beebe's plan, schools would also be able to explore their own distribution platforms, including networks.
Texas would not be able to pursue those options in the Pac-10, which is planning to launch a conference network in 2012 and would require schools to turn over all of their inventory.
YOUR MOVE TEXAS A&M
The big question now is if Texas A&M, which, according to Orangebloods.com, has the votes on its nine-member Board of Regents to join the Southeastern Conference, would reconsider a possible move to the SEC and remain in the Big 12 with its long-time, in-state rival.
The stakes for Beebe to somehow rescue the Big 12 seemed to get exponentially higher on Sunday as Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott and chief operating officer Kevin Weiberg conducted a tour of Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Texas.
So either Texas A&M will consider Beebe's plan to rescue a 10-member Big 12. Or A&M will most likely end 100 years of tradition with rival Texas by heading to the SEC, likely triggering a exodus west of Texas, OU, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and possibly Kansas. The Aggies can be seen as the final piece of the puzzle to holding the Big 12 together.
A Big 12 athletic director and two other sources told Orangebloods.com that A&M president R. Bowen Loftin indicated to Scott and Weiberg in a brief meeting in College Station Sunday the Aggies were not interested in joining the Pac-10.
But A&M spokesman Jason Cook refuted that report and said, "Texas A&M continues to evaluate its options. At this point, all options continue to be on the table."
Orangebloods.com was able to confirm with a top source at Texas A&M that despite visits to College Station by SEC commissioner Mike Slive on Saturday and by Scott and Weiberg on Sunday, Aggies athletic director Bill Byrne was out of the state the entire weekend - at a family reunion in Idaho.
"As Bill Byrne and I have said on several occasions, our desire was for the Big 12 Conference to continue," Loftin said in a statement Sunday evening. "With the departure of two universities from the conference last week, the Big 12 is certainly not what it was.
"We are aggressively exploring our options, one of which is for the Big 12 to continue in some form. We have also had extensive discussions with other conferences over the past two days. We continue to evaluate our options in a deliberate manner as we work toward a decision that is in the best long-term interests of Texas A&M."
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Sources say Texas will commit to 10-member Big 12
