Iowa State Cyclones

"I think, we will continue to look for expansion for another year," said Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez. "I think everybody was thing (last May) as schools were moving and looking that may be the direction (a 16-team conference). Our commissioner and our league decided to study it for a year."

Texas President William Powers and AD DeLoss Dodd gathered up the Longhorn coaches this afternoon. Told them we did everything we could to save the Big 12, but were unsuccessful. And according to my sources, the 6 schools that Orangebloods.com first reported last Thursday as being targeted by the Pac 10 will indeed accept those invitations. Including Colorado who will opt out of the Big 12. And that they will find their new home in the Pac 10 in 2012 and form the United States’ first super conference.

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott today will recommend to his league's presidents and chancellors that the conference fire the first shot in what could end up as a "revolutionizing" step in college realignment by extending invitations to six teams from the Big 12.

Tom Osborne and Nebraska have been at odds with Texas in the past. Now UT needs Nebraska to hold the B12 together.
The schools on the Pac-10 wish list are Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado. (Although a group of lawmakers in Texas is vowing to fight for Baylor to get that invitation instead of Colorado.)

And it's looking more and more like those Big 12 teams could help form the country's first 16-team super conference unless they get assurances from Nebraska in the next 10 days that the Cornhuskers are are committed to staying in the Big 12.

I just think that the Big Ten, with the kind of programs we have, the universities we have, there's gotta be a couple of schools out there that would be an asset to us. And, obviously, it'd be an advantage to them if we decide to go.

Now, I don't think it's fair for me to say which ones. But, obviously I hope we get somebody from the East. You know, I think it'll help us with the New York and New Jersey television markets.

Let's say the Big Ten Grab happens and your school ISN'T taken. Do you start making goo-goo eyes at the ACC or work overtime to try and fix the Big East?

OTB: Is it acceptable to say both? An Eastern Conference should be viable in theory, but isn't in its present form, and definitely won't be if further crippled. The athletic department needs to do whatever they can to secure their long-term financial viability.

PB: "Goo-goo eyes at the ACC?" No. That's too subtle. I want Pitt to go NBA groupie on the ACC at that point. Screw dignity and spread the legs. It's a bit demeaning, but it's a longer-term solution to another 5-7 year run at "fixing" the Big East.

TNIAAM: I'm with Chas. I think we make a serious Fredericks' of Hollywood purchase, show up at John Swofford's house unannounced wearing a trench-coat and start whispering sweet nothings about "NYC alumni bases" and "strong basketball traditions." If that doesn't get the blood boiling...

The Big Ten Conference is still in the early stages of weighing whether and where to expand and is "not anywhere near" the point of identifying and approaching prospective new schools, commissioner Jim Delany said Wednesday.

"We have not accelerated anything," Delany said, refuting a Chicago Tribune report late last week that the league had stepped up its timetable.

In 2008, Missouri athletics collected $8.4 million, behind the universities of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas A&M. Texas led the way with $10.2 million. Some estimates forecast this year's payout to Missouri will be about $10 million as conference revenue continues to grow.

The Big Ten, by comparison, passed along nearly $207 million to its members in 2008. Each member school received about $18.8 million. Accounting for a 12th school, the disbursements would still top $17 million each. That number is estimated to grow to more than $20 million this year

The Big XII isn't as much "dysfunctional" as just plain underutilized; no conference with Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska should be such an afterthought on the national landscape. But lo and behold, a defection to the Big Ten by Missouri (that's very, very happening, by the way; the Big 10 would love to get in on the St. Louis market, and Missouri's brass have been writing "MIZZOU + BIG TEN 4EVER" on their Trapper Keepers ever since the BXI mentioned the word "expansion") will shock the conference into action. It might be ugly, and we're highly skeptical that Baylor survives the, ahem, restructuring.

Texas has not been a good conference partner. We did not save the SWC, and we are not saving the Big 12. We have been in two conferences, and each chose (per our wishes) to not share media revenue equally (the Big 10 and SEC do share revenue…say, what are the two strongest conferences?). This can (and probably does) lead to resentment of Texas. In the Big 10, Indiana knows that a strong Michigan helps its own bottom line. In the Big 12, a strong Texas does nothing for Baylor.

Arkansas goes to the Big 12, so we get to pick up another school. Enter Clemson. I’ve said since I was a freshman in college that Clemson is more of an SEC school than an ACC school. They are the Land Grant University of South Carolina, have SEC ties, and make a better fit than many of the current schools. That would be a very smooth transition for everyone. We could move UT to the West, where they have natural rivalries with Alabama and Auburn anyway. Clemson would fall into an SEC East schedule, and with games against UGA, UF, USC and Vandy every year would make for some very good matchups.