The University of Texas’ board of regents joined Oklahoma in granting their school presidents the authority to take action regarding conference realignment Monday.
The Sooners and Longhorns are now one step closer to formally applying to the Pac-12, a conference they have reportedly been in discussions with about how to make the schools’ addition to the conference a smooth process. According to some reports, the two schools would prefer to bring Texas Tech and Oklahoma State with them to create a sixteen-team conference.
Oklahoma President David Boren called the informal discussions “warm” and “constructive” after the meeting yesterday, but insisted his school had not decided it was leaving yet and that remaining in the Big 12 was “still on the table.” Texas President William Powers echoed those sentiments to the Texas board.
“We believe that it would be very helpful if the campus and I, and along the terms that were discussed earlier with consultation the chancellor and the chairman of the board and others, be able to explore options and have the authority to make decision with respect to this including continued participation in the Big 12,” Powers said.
Big 12 and Big East officials have been having discussions of their own, according to a report from the Associated Press. Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced their intentions to leave the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference this past weekend, and a source told the AP that talks about a possible merger between the two conferences are “alive and ongoing.”
“I think it’s naïve to even think that,” Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel said Monday about the possibility of the Big 12 surviving as more schools leave the conference.
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder expressed his belief in a teleconference Monday that the conference could be saved if all sides came together to discuss the issues with the current Big 12.
“I just believe that it would be in the best interest of all to sit down and try to cast aside whatever petty jealousies exist and take a mature and adult approach to it and try to identify exactly what the problems are,” Snyder said. “There’s really some very, very quality people there who are very capable of sitting down and working things out in an appropriate way.”
Texas coach Mack Brown said the consequences of any decision ultimately affect the players themselves, and must be considered carefully.
“As much as we talk about money, as much as we talk about college football, as much as we talk about realignment, as much as we talk about great games, playoffs and all that stuff, we better go back and make sure that we’re taking care of the players and that the players and the high school coaches are always considered in the equation,” Brown said.
Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said in a statement Monday that the actions of OU and Texas were anticipated, but pledged to do his best to keep the Big 12 intact.
“It is my opinion that the case for the Big 12 Conference continues to be as strong today for all of our current members as it was last year, especially considering the welfare of those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility-the student-athletes,” Beebe said. “We continue to apply all effort and resources toward assuring our members that maintaining the Big 12 is in the best interest for their institutions.”