The Salt Lake Tribune says the Texas and Oklahoma schools – i.e. the ones that could end up in a Pac-16 – won’t object to A&M leaving for the SEC. That report comes after conflicting reports Wednesday and Thursday. Not necessarily a surprise, not necessarily an indication of anything. Key paragraph:
The SEC said it would invite Texas A&M to join as its 13th member, so long as every school in the Big 12 waived its legal claims against it. Baylor has led a group of five other Big 12 schools — Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri — that refuse to do that, fearing that another massive realignment will leave them out in the cold.
CBS Sports says Oklahoma State’s president is “focused on remaining in the Big 12.”
But A&M is so desperate to get out it may take the long way around (Houston Chronicle):
If the SEC agreement somehow falls through – and chances are great it won’t – the Aggies might go independent for a year. That’s how bad they don’t want to be in the Big 12. Multiple A&M insiders have said as much – the Aggies have gone too far to turn around now.
But at this point, how would you schedule games in anything – from football to softball – for 2011-12?
And Marc Hansen talks about what’s been in the back, or front, of every Cyclone fan’s mind: Without BCS money, we couldn’t even afford to pay Bill Fennelly.
Do you know what happens to Iowa State if the Big 12 goes kaput and ISU’s chunk of the TV swag disappears?
“They become Northern Iowa with a $5 million scoreboard,” says Michael Gartner, who recently left his position on the Board of Regents. “Without that money, they’re dead in the water. No way they can run an athletic department then without a subsidy. I bet it would be a $10 million subsidy, too.”
ISU is starting a search for a new university president. There’s a football game tomorrow that was supposed to be the talk of the state. Sunday is a very somber anniversary. Have I mentioned that this whole thing has been horribly, horribly timed?
(Clarification: I think Gartner is exaggerating about his quote. UNI is, after all, I-AA. However, the gist of the statement — that losing that TV money would be a nuclear bomb on ISU athletics — is not far off.)