OU on Big 12; Other Realignment

Important Things to Remember:


Some media types have taken today's information from Oklahoma as an implicit suggestion that they intend to stay in the Big 12, or beyond that, know they cannot get into the Pac 12 because a pending vote will preclude their membership. 


Put simply: Neither is true.


Analysis: 


The release of information today indicates a set of demands that would have to be met in order for Oklahoma to consider staying in the Big 12, and those demands include a stripping of the LHN. If Beebe resigned today, it doesn't imply OU is staying in the conference.


Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott will only call for a vote of his member presidents if he knows the outcome. He won't bother them to get together and vote "no." And Oklahoma president Boren would not jeopardize his own credibility by putting OU so far out on a limb without knowing the firm footing on which he stood. That footing is based on the agreement in principle worked out with Commissioner Scott some two weeks ago, and nothing in that has changed.


Be careful what's being read and tweeted out there, folks. Some things are shot out there for good measure, and others are merely shot out for shock value. The things that resonate among multiple good sources are the ones to rely upon. 


Even here, in this little blog, if I'm offering conjecture or analysis, I'll say so. No pretense of double-secret sources here.


Here are a few Tuesday afternoon tidbits on realignment:

Late report from the Birmingham News supposedly indicates a tentative plan for Missouri to join the SEC, and to have Auburn move to the SEC East. The latter would coincide with previous story in which Auburn officials said they wouldn't have a problem doing precisely that. 


Oklahoma University apparently has relayed to sources the conditions under which they might entertain remaining in the Big 12:

* Commissioner Dan Beebe must be removed.
* New conference rules strictly governing the Longhorn Network would have to be drafted
* Conference revenues must be equally distributed.

OSU benefactor T. Boone Pickens asserts that the Big 12 could be saved, and that A&M might be persuaded to stay; however, that report was later flatly refuted by A&M officials who said they were firm in their decision to leave the Big 12.

Missouri is strongly rumored to have a standing, informal offer for membership from the SEC, but is willing to wait for the Big 12 to implode to make the invitation official. West Virginia, conversely, has reportedly been rejected by both the ACC and the SEC.

More as it develops