Boren and his political buddies slowing down WV to B12

[OUHoops]

Interesting...

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/footba...-t-let-Mountaineers-get-away?urn=ncaaf-wp8721

 

[Sawyer]

Easy solution:

Add BYU, Louisville and West Virginia now. BYU joins next year with TCU to replace A&M and MU, who leave after this season. Louisville and WVU join the following season. Everyone (except the Big East) is for the most part satisfied.

 

[OUHoops]

The soap opera continues:

http://campuscorner.kansascity.com/node/2177

Red River rivalry seeps into Big 12 expansion talks

By Blair Kerkhoff - Posted on 26 October 2011

UPDATED WITH WEST VIRGINIA SENATOR QUOTES

Has Big 12 expansion become part of the Red River Rivalry?

According to a source familiar with the Big 12 Board of Directors teleconference on Tuesday, Texas and Oklahoma aren’t on the same page in expansion, if the league is to take only one school.

West Virginia is preferred by Texas. Louisville is favored by Oklahoma, said the source.

Who wins this battle? In the Cotton Bowl earlier this month, the Sooners prevailed.

But nobody knows how this one plays out. Perhaps the Big 12 invites both.

Assuming Missouri is headed to the SEC, could the Big 12 stand at 11? The Big Ten ran that sized conference for two decades.

And if Notre Dame brings basketball and its non-revenue sports, the league is back to its original 12-team alignment for all sports except football.

If the Irish believe conference affiliation is in their future, Big 12 football could grow to 12 and return to division play.

Or that could happen with this round of expansion if West Virginia, Louisville and a third team is added.

Cincinnati has been speculated as a possibility, but others in the Big East - South Florida, Rutgers and Connecticut - will be looking for conference upgrades.

Brigham Young, a football independent, has often been suggested as a candidate, but the school’s contract with ESPN might not work in the Big 12, according to a source.

WEST VIRGINIA SENATORS WEIGH IN
West Virginia senators Jay Rockerfeller and Joe Manchin issued statements on Wednesday, and they're not happy campers.
Manchin suggests that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell reached out to Oklahoma President David Boren to lobby for Louisville, that may have caused the West Virginia to Big 12 delay.

Rockerfeller: "The Big 12 picked WVU on the strength of its program — period. Now the media reports that political games may upend that. That’s just flat wrong. I am doing and will do whatever it takes to get us back to the merits.”

Manchin: "If a U.S. Senator has done anything inappropriate or unethical to interfere with a decision that the Big 12 had already made then I believe that there should be an investigation in the U.S. Senate and I will fight to get the truth. West Virginians and the American people deserve to know exactly what is going on and whether politics is interfering with our college sports."

 

[campbest]

As the article said, WVU is not going to screw around with this, there is only one team in the state and it is very important to its citizens. Louisville doesn't have the same luxury and better be ready to play hardball if there is in fact only one spot in the Big XII.

 

[Sid]

According to Berry Tramel the Big 12 conference is one big mess. What the heck does Chuck Neinas think he's doing!? He invites WV. The Big 12 powers say hold on a second. Mitch McConnell is in David Boren's ear pimping Louisville. DeLoss wants WV. The conference is a total cluster @$%* made up of a bunch of morons. Mizzou has to be laughing their arses off. The Big 12 powers can't blame Dan Bebee for this mess. Forget about adding the hillbillies and go west. Welcome to the Big 12 WAC.

 

[Sawyer]

Mizzou has to be laughing their arses off.

Pretty much.

This is the sort of "leadership" that's driven four teams away.

 

[Sid]

Pretty much.

This is the sort of "leadership" that's driven four teams away.

I agree. Only the desperate schools are willing to join the Big 12 WAC conference. A WV politician threatening to call for an investigation in the senate on Mitch McConnell. lol Neinas should tell the Big 12 WAC conference to take a hike.

 

[WTSooner]

Who cares what OU or UT wants? This isn't the type of decision that any one school should get to dictate. Either let the Commish decide, since that is what he is paid to do, or let all the current schools vote. Problem solved.

 

[bocabull]

Please. The teams left because they couldn't win so they whored themselves out. The joke is on them as OU, Texas & Kansas keep on keeping on. They won't be missed.

Either West Virginia or Louisville is an upgrade from Missouri but I would personally select WVU.

Adding both is not the best idea because when all is said and done the 10 team model with OU, Texas & Kansas as the marquee programs will be the ticket.

Remember the conference that paid out the most recently was the Big 10 with 11 teams and no conference title game. The SEC got duped into going to 14 and will face the law of domishing returns by selecting dead weight like Missouri who will not contribute prorata to their distribution. They are a net loser and always have been.

 

[Capel's Mustache]

Pretty much.

This is the sort of "leadership" that's driven four teams away.

So is it a done deal that Mizzou is gone? When does the SEC vote?

 

[Sawyer]

So is it a done deal that Mizzou is gone? When does the SEC vote?

All signs point in that direction. I have no idea on a specific timetable, but I'd expect it to happen soon.

 

[Capel's Mustache]

All signs point in that direction. I have no idea on a specific timetable, but I'd expect it to happen soon.

I believe we (OU fans) had the same thoughts about the Pac 12. No idea if the situations are similar but they sure look it from the outside. Conference commish says he has the votes...