June 17 is D-Day.
The University of Missouri has a deadline of June 17 to state its loyalty to the Big 12 and intention to stay in the conference, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
Previous media reports out of Texas have suggested the conference gave MU and Nebraska a deadline of late this week with the possibility of it being extended.
The PAC-10 will do anything for money.
The Pac-10 loves its white-gloved tradition. It is the self-proclaimed "Conference of Champions." The proud home of "the Granddaddy of them all." Of the quaintly named "Big Game" between Cal and Stanford, which is usually anything but. Of the "Civil War" and "The Apple Cup."
And the Pac-10 has always held tightly to the illusion of academics. While pundits regularly degrade the conference, the Pac-10 has been smugly content with its self-worth and higher mission. Other conferences -- we're talking about you, SEC -- could crassly go for the big bucks, but over in the Pac-10 the last vestiges of the British Empire remained. Tea time, anyone?
Which is why the past few days have been so fascinating, watching the Pac-10 willingly blow its image apart, knocking over the silver in its mad dash for more money. It's the great Oklahoma Land Grab all over again, with schools from Texas and Colorado thrown in.
It was a set up orchestrated by Larry Scott.
Feb. 8.
That’s when the Pac-10 announced it had hired Kevin Weiberg as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer.
At the time, it seemed like a very shrewd move by commissioner Larry Scott — a rookie commish who was secure enough in his own shoes to hire a super-strong No. 2: Weiberg had been the Big 12 commissioner and was a key player in the Big Ten Network.
And looking back, it was indeed a very, very shrewd move — and perhaps much more.
Did Scott hire Weiberg knowing full well that he’d attempt to pluck half the Big 12, including Texas and Oklahoma?
Jon Sunvold is a smart guy, for a Missouri grad.
"If it blows up - if the Big 12 blows up - it should go on all their resumes. The presidents and the chancellors, if it doesn't survive.
"It will be a phenominal failure on the parts of chancellors and presidents."
Sundvold contends the Big 12 should be in expansion mode rather than in the reactionary mode of giving Missouri and Nebraska ultimatums over those schools not giving the Big 12 their pledge of undying allegiance.
In that, he has a lot of agreement. While the Big Ten is talking about expansion, and the Pac 10 is talking about expansion, the Big 12 is trying to save itself by guilting Nebraska and Missouri into preserving the "Big Texas" Conference.
We're all just players in one big Jenga game.
Right now, the unstable Big 12 landscape resembles nothing more than one giant game of Jenga, with the Cornhuskers the critical piece. If they refuse to commit to the conference, then everything collapses.
Nebraska hasn't been in this big a spotlight since the BCS title game against Miami after the 2001 season. With chancellor Harvey Perlman and athletic director Tom Osborne keeping a low profile, nobody knows how Nebraska might be leaning.
Nebraska can swallow its pride, pledge allegiance to the Big 12 and agree to stay in the league through 2016. The Cornhuskers could work the phones with the expansion-minded Big Ten and opt for a new home if the news is favorable.
Or, in what could be a case of calling the conference's bluff, Nebraska might just ignore the ultimatum.
Notre Dame, again.
It is not surprising that the two biggest players in this game — Notre Dame and Texas — are two of college football’s most recognizable brand names during good times and bad.
If Notre Dame committed to the Big Ten and pushed Nebraska, and to a lesser extent Missouri, back to the Big 12, it would be a coup for Texas.
Do we get a invitation to the big party? Is it us? Please tell us soon...
Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott said he’s already spoken with several universities, but the list of schools that could be invited does not include Baylor University.
Lobbyist Buddy Jones needs to stop emailing.
"It's hard enough get the home teams to stick tight. But harder still to influence a bunch of corn shuckers."
It is just a waiting game for Texas.
Brown even talked matter-of-factly about the possibility of its demise as he visited with boosters at a Quarterback Club meeting in San Antonio.
He assured UT supporters that "even if there is no (Big 12)," the Longhorns would be in a good position to find a new home, no matter what happens.
"We've basically been invited to any conference we want to go," Brown said.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing you are a Baylor graduate?
Texas has made sure to put out the word that it doesn't want the Big 12 to break up. If that is indeed true, then the conference could be fine. But we're dealing with a Longhorn of a different color -- green, that is.
If UT wants Baylor in a conference, the Bears are in. Period. It's like a group of hipsters going to a nightclub. Anyone the Longhorns say are with them gets into the VIP section.
This is all about Texas, the school not the state.
Commish Dan Beebe. Probably all old news by now, but here is Dan Beebe's press conference after the Big 12 meetings.