Per Condotta:
In a move that could herald a historic change in the makeup of the Pac-10, conference commissioner Larry Scott was given approval Sunday to pursue expansion.
The approval, given by conference presidents and chancellors on the final day of Pac-10 meetings in San Francisco, means Scott can proceed with expansion plans without returning to the board for further consent.
And Orangebloods.com adds on, with a few more specifics:
According to multiple sources, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott presented all of his expansion scenarios to the league’s presidents and chancellors Sunday, the final day of Pac-10 meetings in San Francisco.
Those proposals included doing nothing; a full-blown merger with the Big 12; an invitation to six teams in the Big 12; and an invitation to just Colorado and Utah.
The sources said Scott favors the six-team expansion plan – Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado – and will carry it out now that he’s been granted the authority to do so.
Scott is also expected to endorse a 16-team conference network (most likely run by Fox Cable Networks, which operates the Big Ten Network) with projections of paying $20 million per school.
The network would be launched in 2012, sources said.
There’s more to it though. Included in the story is how there could be a political fight over Baylor, where perhaps the Pac-10 will go after the Bears instead of, say, Colorado. Anyway, it all sounds good from where a Pac-10 fan sits, right? After all this, it would almost be a downer if we don’t see the PAC/BIG 16, wouldn’t it? However, this baby isn’t put to bed just yet. You all know the saying…
The Big 12 isn’t taking the idea of their destruction lying down. To keep it as clear as possible, as reported by Orangebloods.com, the Big 12 has given Nebraska a deadline. They reportedly have less than two weeks to decide if they are A) bolting to the Big Ten, or B) staying put, but even that isn’t a slam-dunk:
According to sources, Nebraska has shown some willingness to reconsider what once appeared to be a pair of no-looking-back blinders toward the Big Ten.
The sense among the nine Big 12 presidents who are fighting to hold the league together is the conference could survive if Missouri left. But it couldn’t survive if Mizzou and Nebraska both bolted.
That’s why those schools have been given a hard date to commit to the Big 12. The deadline coincides with a Nebraska Board of Regents meeting in Lincoln on Friday and Saturday of this week.
So there you go. The Cornhuskers just might be the proverbial plugged hole in the dam. If they pull out, then it could all fall apart, and it’s welcome to super-conference ARMAGEDDON! Think four huge conferences, with the Pac-10/Big12 expansion, the Big 10 expansion, the SEC expansion, and some combo of the ACC and Big East all part of the change.
I heard a good segment on ESPN 710 on Friday, with Brock Huard and Mike Salk discussing the “forward momentum” towards this type of thing. It was really a good listen, and I urge you to check it out. First the 11 to 12 noon segment went into the details, while the 1 to 2 PM segment has ESPN’s Ed Cunningham hopping on to talk about the future (note – they REALLY like this from a WSU perspective!):
11-12 noon:
1 – 2 PM:
This thing could get crazy in the coming days! Stay tuned.
Finally, HOORAY BASEBALL!
WSU’s College World Series hopes took a shot on Saturday with a loss to Arkansas, but the Cougs won a couple yesterday to stay alive, including a wild-ass 10-7 win last night over the Razorbacks. Today at 5:05 PST, they will face off one last time with Arkansas for the right to move on to the Super Regional. You can catch the game streamed live on RazorVision, courtesy of ArkansasRazorBacks.com. GOOD LUCK to baseball!
All for now. As always, GO COUGS!
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