Pac 10 + Half the Big 12 = Galactic Intercollegiate Empire?

The five Big 12 programs that would have been left behind -- Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor and Missouri -- all agreed to sign over their share of Colorado (Pac-10) and Nebraska (Big Ten) buyout money to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M in order to help coax them to stay

The Big 12 does not yet have a future TV deal agreed to at this time, although the projections Beebe used to help persuade the Longhorns, Sooners and Aggies to stay would promise them in the range of $17 million per year. Rather than a deal, he says, he has confidence those numbers will hold up based on the research he's done and the conversations he's had.

Geezaldinho wrote:It's over, and it was just money. If anything, Texas is the winner because it's now clear who runs the show.

The Big 102.0 is at 12 teams, so they redraw their logo (again) and can now try for 4 more teams so they can have a playoff and more cash.

It didn't go exactly as planned for the Pacx. Their hopes for World Wide hegemony are dashed, and they have this wart in the middle of the country to deal with. I'm convinced they took Colorado just for leverage on the others and now they are left holding the paper bag that the stuff fell out the bottom of.
They will have to find another team to get to 12 and have something that makes sense. (I bet Boise State is licking its chops and thinking they moved to the Mountain West too early) my guess here is that Pac10 commissioner Larry Scott needs to get Utah or somebody or lose his job.

The Buffalo is standing all alone with its head on a swivel thinking "what happened?". They are now totally isolated politically and geographically. they can't compete in any sport with the PAC10, unless they play hockey or something...


I'm not sure what Nebraska gets other than money. Thay will do OK in Football, but not in the other sports in the Big102.0, I think.They might also lose alumni support, as their whole identity is in BIG12 Football. (hey! they are still in the Big12 - just everyone else is different)

The Longhorn conference is now a little smaller, but they no doubt won concessions from FOX and Texas has a firmer grip on the conference, and they got rid of Pesky Nebraska in Football.

Missouri breathes a big sigh of relief and will now vote in lockstep with Texas in perpetuity. The fact that nobody wanted them means to me they have to think about making themselves more attractive. Maybe schedule schools besides McNeese State in Football.

TAMU Is the only one left to decide. My guess is they will stay, as their whole thing is to try and be Texas, and there is political pressure in Texas to keep the rivalry.

This looks like a lot of egos overplayed their hands except Texas. What's that AD's name? I want him negotiating for me.....
I can see him having a cigar and Brandy with his Chancellor and saying "that's how it's done".

The image we always have of Texas folks is oil rich Yahoos, but I gotta say, this is right out of SUN TSU's Art of War


"If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss."

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Pacific-10 Conference announced today that the University of Utah has accepted an invitation to join the Conference as its 12th member. The Utes and the University of Colorado, which accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 last week, are the Conference’s newest members since 1978.

“The addition of the University of Utah as the Conference’s 12th member continues to strengthen the Pac-10’s goals of becoming the country’s leader in college athletics,” said Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott. “The University of Utah is a great academic and athletic fit, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Pac-10.”

“I have no doubt that, speaking for the entire University of Utah family, we could not be more pleased to accept the invitation to join the Pac-10,” said Michael Young, University president. “The University of Utah will be a great contributor to an already great conference and this will be tremendous both academically and athletically for the University.”

Utah’s academic and athletic profile is a great fit for the Pac-10 Conference. The University’s high academic excellence ranks it among the top-100 universities in the world and is the only institution in the state to earn a top-tier ranking from the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and has done so for the last five years.

Utah is among a network of 52 consortia of universities leading the way in space-related research, including the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California, Oregon State University, UCLA, USC, Washington and future member Colorado.

In addition, Utah ranks among the top public research universities in the nation, with particular distinction in medicine, genetics and engineering. Acclaimed faculty member Mario R. Capecchi was a 2007 Noble Prize winner and will fit in to the roster of 25 Nobel laureates from California and other Pac-10 institutions.

With the addition of Utah and Colorado, the Conference’s institutions reside in six of the nation’s top 35 media markets with an expanse that ranges from big metropolitan cities, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, to the deserts of Arizona, the northwest corridor, and the Rocky Mountain range. The Utah campus played an integral part of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games with its Heritage Commons serving as the Athletes Village.

In addition to the shared academic excellence, the Utah and the existing Pac-10 member institutions hold impressive athletic resumes, including Stanford’s 15 consecutive Learfield Sports Directors’ Cups and UCLA’s 106 NCAA championships. Pac-10 teams have combined to win 390 NCAA titles, by far the most of any other conference in the country, and the Utes will add to that 20 NCAA titles, including 10 in skiing and nine in women’s gymnastics.

On the court, Utah brings with it one of the more successful men’s basketball programs in NCAA history, ranking in the top 15 in all-time wins, along with UCLA and Washington. On the football field, the Utes own the nation’s longest active bowl win streak (nine games). With its excellence in men’s basketball and football, Utah is the only school in NCAA history to produce No. 1 draft picks in the NFL and NBA in the same year.

The Utes sponsor 18 varsity sports. Men’s sports include football, basketball, baseball, golf, swimming and diving, skiing and tennis. Women’s sports include basketball, cross country, gymnastics, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. The Pac-10 currently sponsors all of those sports with the exception of skiing.

PAC-10 AND UTAH

On the football field, the Utes have battled current Pac-10 teams 143 times, going 12-11 against them since 1994. Utah has defeated a Pac-10 team every year since 2001, except 2006. Arizona and Utah have been rivals since 1924, meeting 36 times during that span and renewing the series in 2000.

Utah and UCLA have combined to win 15 (of 29) NCAA women’s gymnastics championships with 54 individual NCAA champions. From 1983-86, a Pac-10 school finished as the runner-up to Utah, while the Utes finished second to the Bruins’ national championship win in 2000.

In 1998, the Utes defeated defending national champion Arizona to advance to the NCAA Final Four, but the Wildcats returned the favor in 2009, upsetting fifth-seeded Utah in the first round.