ESPN: Pac-16 idea is back on the table
Sep 4, 2011, 3:34 AM | Updated: 4:34 am
The Pac-12 is not yet a year old and it could expand to the Pac-16 soon, though there is not an exact time frame.
According to ESPN, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech would be the four schools that would be added to the current Pac-12.
Current Big 12 member Texas A&M said they would be willing to leave if they can find another home — most likely the SEC — and that would leave only nine teams in the conference.
Texas, with their newly formed Longhorn Network, would likely be the biggest blockade to another conference expansion, but Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said his school would wait on the decision of Oklahoma and then evaluate the league.
From the sound of it, the Sun Devils playing in Norman and the Longhorns coming to visit Tucson could be hinging on the decision of Oklahoma, who could make a decision in the next few days.
[Oklahoma president David] Boren said that Oklahoma is seeking stability in its conference relationship with “partners that are both outstanding athletically and academically as well because a conference that’s strong is not only stable but it’s one in which there are multiple relationships, along with sports, between the university members.”
The news that Oklahoma would be open to a move came as a shock to Missouri athletic director Mike Alden, who thought the Big 12 schools were all working together to help the conference survive.
Oklahoma State billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens said he would expects the Big 12 to be nonexistent in five years and that the Cowboys would end up in what is now the Pac-12.
While Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott was in Arlington, Texas, for the LSU – Oregon game, it is not believed he held talks with any of the potentially joining schools.
