Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Big 12 Would Need ‘Major Reforms’ for OU to Stay

OU is “considering remaining in the Big 12, but only in a ‘reformed’ version of the conference that includes hard and fast rules for Texas' Longhorn Network and removal of Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe,” a high-ranking Big 12 source told The Oklahoman on Tuesday.

On changes to the Longhorn Network:

“The other reform the Sooners demand is Texas and ESPN retreating on some its plans for the Longhorn Network. The UT/ESPN partnership angered Big 12 members on two counts: 1) the network reached an agreement with Fox Sports to move a conference game to the Longhorn Network; and 2) The Longhorn Network announced it would show high school highlights even after the conference voted to keep televised high school games off school-branded networks.”

The source tells The Oklahoman it is “not inevitable that OU and OSU will go to the Pac-12, even though the OU regents support the move.”

The source also said that conference expansion “is not a major issue, that while the Big 12 likely needs to return to 10 or 12 schools, the reforms are a much higher priority for stabilizing the conference.”

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