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University of Oklahoma President David Boren and Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis had been working behind the scenes for days in an attempt to reform the Big 12 Conference and had been "getting some very positive feedback" when the Pac-12 made its late-night announcement Tuesday that it would not expand, a source said.
The Pac-12's announcement left OU and Boren with a public relations black eye because he had said Monday that the Pac-12 was OU's "principal focus" beyond remaining in a reformed Big 12.
It also made for an interesting scene Wednesday in Stillwater, where Hargis was given full authority to negotiate the school's conference future by OSU regents despite the fact that the Cowboys' and Sooners' conference futures appear to be firmly in the Big 12.
A highly-placed official at a Big 12 school who wished to remain unidentified told the Tulsa World on Wednesday that Boren called Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott on Tuesday morning to tell him OU and OSU would not be joining the Pac-12. The source said Boren asked the Pac-12 to delay its no-expansion announcement to give Boren time to gain leverage for making reforms in the Big 12. But the source said the Pac-12 made its unexpected announcement because it didn't want to be upstaged and embarrassed again by Texas, as it was last year.
The source said Big 12 university presidents and chancellors will meet via teleconference Thursday to hammer out various issues, including expansion, as the league moves forward with nine members.
The source also said Boren hopes Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe resigns amid "great discontent" and said former Big Eight Commissioner and College Football Association Executive Director Chuck Neinas was a candidate to replace Beebe on an interim basis. The source said Neinas would be a "wonderful stabilizer" of a league that has been wounded by defections, mistrust and even lawsuits.
The Kansas City Star cited two sources late Wednesday in reporting that Beebe was working on an agreement to leave his position as Big 12 commissioner.
Just as Boren was by OU regents on Monday, Hargis was authorized by OSU regents on Wednesday to act on conference issues. That includes Thursday's teleconference. The source said Boren has been in constant contact with the CEOs he knows well and that Hargis has done likewise with those he knows well.
"We're going to be united on this," Hargis said Wednesday in Stillwater after the regents' special meeting. "Whatever ends up happening, it will be a joint decision on our part."
Hargis said he thinks the Big 12's issues will "be resolved very shortly" and that the issues were "not that numerous, and, in my opinion, not that difficult."
One of the primary reforms is the resignation of Beebe as commissioner. The source said Beebe is "not a villain" but said stepping down would be "the right thing to do."
Beebe ran the conference with favoritism toward Texas, the source said, because he thought it was the best way to get the best deal for all schools.
Among other topics expected during Thursday's teleconference is leveling out the league's television revenue-sharing plan.
Just last spring, Beebe changed the old model to create less of a gap between the Big 12's haves and have-nots. A new plan likely would be phased in over two or three years to offset expected budget shortfalls.
University of Texas President Bill Powers and Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds both said Wednesday that they would be amenable to discussing equal sharing of TV revenue to help stabilize the league and appease other member institutions.
Another item Big 12 CEOs will discuss Thursday is securing the league's next round of television broadcast rights beyond five years.
In April, the Big 12 signed a 13-year, $1.17 billion deal with Fox. The league's current deal with ABC runs through 2016, but the source said Boren wants written commitments from schools through 2018 or '19 that would keep everyone in place and increase the league's bargaining power when negotiations begin.
Maybe most importantly, Big 12 leadership will reopen talks about replacing Texas A&M (which is departing for the Southeastern Conference) and getting back to 10 members, and possibly 12. "(Expansion) definitely moves to the front burner again because we want to get that resolved," Hargis said.
Brigham Young University is the first target, the source said, and Texas Christian University "would be in the hunt, and maybe Air Force. Louisville and Cincinnati could ultimately be on the list."
Hargis added the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University.
The source also didn't rule out Texas A&M's return if all the right concessions are made (mostly by Texas, in particular showing high school highlights and trying to show more than two games on the Longhorn Network). But the source called keeping A&M "a longshot."
On Wednesday, Powers told reporters in Austin that he was "absolutely delighted" that the Big 12 was staying together, saying that "getting stability is Job 1 for the conference."
It's the second time in 15 months the Big 12 has been resuscitated from what appeared to be certain demise. Last year, OU, OSU, Texas and Texas Tech had a deal in principle and "were going to the Pac-12 the next day," the source said. But Texas killed that move and kept the Big 12 alive when it announced that it would stay in the Big 12.
That decision - Texas jumping ahead of the pack, subverting the Pac-12's plans and making the league look bad - helped contribute to sore feelings that still linger.
"The (Pac-12) presidents were already so angry at Texas for wanting a special deal (for the Longhorn Network), and they were so angry from last year when Texas made it look like 'the Pac-10 wants us but we're not going.' So they weren't about to be the twice-rejected party," the source said.
The source said Scott had spent the past few days "trying to figure out some convoluted way to let ESPN pay Texas some money up front" for the Longhorn Network, even though Pac-12 presidents and chancellors didn't like the idea that "Texas was asking for special treatment."
Scott said on ESPN's "College Football Live" broadcast Wednesday that the problem with the Longhorn Network was "that it already exists" and it could not "fold in with our ... structure and for our revenue to be shared equally. That became clear over the weekend that that wasn't going to be possible."
Scott said Pac-12 CEOs were "very open" to expanding to 16 teams but not 14 because of travel and other geographic challenges.
The source said that by the time the Pac-12's deal with Texas fell through, Boren had already decided to stay in the Big 12.
Scott had no comment Wednesday night about the source's timeline.
Through a Pac-12 spokesman, he said he stood by his comment earlier in the day to ESPN.com that "I have nothing but respect for the leadership of the University of Oklahoma. I don't want to contradict anything that they feel they need to say as part of the process they're in."
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...tid=595&articleid=20110922_92_A1_Univer706892
The Pac-12's announcement left OU and Boren with a public relations black eye because he had said Monday that the Pac-12 was OU's "principal focus" beyond remaining in a reformed Big 12.
It also made for an interesting scene Wednesday in Stillwater, where Hargis was given full authority to negotiate the school's conference future by OSU regents despite the fact that the Cowboys' and Sooners' conference futures appear to be firmly in the Big 12.
A highly-placed official at a Big 12 school who wished to remain unidentified told the Tulsa World on Wednesday that Boren called Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott on Tuesday morning to tell him OU and OSU would not be joining the Pac-12. The source said Boren asked the Pac-12 to delay its no-expansion announcement to give Boren time to gain leverage for making reforms in the Big 12. But the source said the Pac-12 made its unexpected announcement because it didn't want to be upstaged and embarrassed again by Texas, as it was last year.
The source said Big 12 university presidents and chancellors will meet via teleconference Thursday to hammer out various issues, including expansion, as the league moves forward with nine members.
The source also said Boren hopes Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe resigns amid "great discontent" and said former Big Eight Commissioner and College Football Association Executive Director Chuck Neinas was a candidate to replace Beebe on an interim basis. The source said Neinas would be a "wonderful stabilizer" of a league that has been wounded by defections, mistrust and even lawsuits.
The Kansas City Star cited two sources late Wednesday in reporting that Beebe was working on an agreement to leave his position as Big 12 commissioner.
Just as Boren was by OU regents on Monday, Hargis was authorized by OSU regents on Wednesday to act on conference issues. That includes Thursday's teleconference. The source said Boren has been in constant contact with the CEOs he knows well and that Hargis has done likewise with those he knows well.
"We're going to be united on this," Hargis said Wednesday in Stillwater after the regents' special meeting. "Whatever ends up happening, it will be a joint decision on our part."
Hargis said he thinks the Big 12's issues will "be resolved very shortly" and that the issues were "not that numerous, and, in my opinion, not that difficult."
One of the primary reforms is the resignation of Beebe as commissioner. The source said Beebe is "not a villain" but said stepping down would be "the right thing to do."
Beebe ran the conference with favoritism toward Texas, the source said, because he thought it was the best way to get the best deal for all schools.
Among other topics expected during Thursday's teleconference is leveling out the league's television revenue-sharing plan.
Just last spring, Beebe changed the old model to create less of a gap between the Big 12's haves and have-nots. A new plan likely would be phased in over two or three years to offset expected budget shortfalls.
University of Texas President Bill Powers and Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds both said Wednesday that they would be amenable to discussing equal sharing of TV revenue to help stabilize the league and appease other member institutions.
Another item Big 12 CEOs will discuss Thursday is securing the league's next round of television broadcast rights beyond five years.
In April, the Big 12 signed a 13-year, $1.17 billion deal with Fox. The league's current deal with ABC runs through 2016, but the source said Boren wants written commitments from schools through 2018 or '19 that would keep everyone in place and increase the league's bargaining power when negotiations begin.
Maybe most importantly, Big 12 leadership will reopen talks about replacing Texas A&M (which is departing for the Southeastern Conference) and getting back to 10 members, and possibly 12. "(Expansion) definitely moves to the front burner again because we want to get that resolved," Hargis said.
Brigham Young University is the first target, the source said, and Texas Christian University "would be in the hunt, and maybe Air Force. Louisville and Cincinnati could ultimately be on the list."
Hargis added the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University.
The source also didn't rule out Texas A&M's return if all the right concessions are made (mostly by Texas, in particular showing high school highlights and trying to show more than two games on the Longhorn Network). But the source called keeping A&M "a longshot."
On Wednesday, Powers told reporters in Austin that he was "absolutely delighted" that the Big 12 was staying together, saying that "getting stability is Job 1 for the conference."
It's the second time in 15 months the Big 12 has been resuscitated from what appeared to be certain demise. Last year, OU, OSU, Texas and Texas Tech had a deal in principle and "were going to the Pac-12 the next day," the source said. But Texas killed that move and kept the Big 12 alive when it announced that it would stay in the Big 12.
That decision - Texas jumping ahead of the pack, subverting the Pac-12's plans and making the league look bad - helped contribute to sore feelings that still linger.
"The (Pac-12) presidents were already so angry at Texas for wanting a special deal (for the Longhorn Network), and they were so angry from last year when Texas made it look like 'the Pac-10 wants us but we're not going.' So they weren't about to be the twice-rejected party," the source said.
The source said Scott had spent the past few days "trying to figure out some convoluted way to let ESPN pay Texas some money up front" for the Longhorn Network, even though Pac-12 presidents and chancellors didn't like the idea that "Texas was asking for special treatment."
Scott said on ESPN's "College Football Live" broadcast Wednesday that the problem with the Longhorn Network was "that it already exists" and it could not "fold in with our ... structure and for our revenue to be shared equally. That became clear over the weekend that that wasn't going to be possible."
Scott said Pac-12 CEOs were "very open" to expanding to 16 teams but not 14 because of travel and other geographic challenges.
The source said that by the time the Pac-12's deal with Texas fell through, Boren had already decided to stay in the Big 12.
Scott had no comment Wednesday night about the source's timeline.
Through a Pac-12 spokesman, he said he stood by his comment earlier in the day to ESPN.com that "I have nothing but respect for the leadership of the University of Oklahoma. I don't want to contradict anything that they feel they need to say as part of the process they're in."
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...tid=595&articleid=20110922_92_A1_Univer706892
