Commissioner Dan Beebe,
who looked lost and bewildered, delivers in the 11th hour.
Longhorns stay, Big 12 lives
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
The Big 12 Conference will stay alive after all 10 remaining teams have agreed to remain members, according to multiple reports late this afternoon.
Texas turned down an invitation from the Pacific-10 Conference, announcing in a university statement late this afternoon that the Longhorns will continue competing in the Big 12. Texas president William Powers Jr. and athletic director DeLoss Dodds will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The Texas Board of Regents meeting set for Tuesday was cancelled.
Powers told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the Big 12 would speak as “one voice.” The Austin American-Statesman also reported that all 10 teams would remain in the Big 12.
The Kansas City Star reported Sunday that a new television contract being touted by Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe could produce “significantly more” than $17 million for each of the 10 remaining Big 12 schools and possibly upwards of $20 million per school. The league would also divide departure penalties of around $20 million withheld from Colorado and Nebraska to the remaining Big 12 members.
Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State had been invited by the Pac-10, which added Colorado from the Big 12 last week. Also last week, Nebraska announced it was joining the Big Ten Conference.
The 10-team Big 12 will also ensure that Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri will maintain their rivalries in the same conference and that there will be future Big 12 basketball tournaments for Kansas City to play host. The Sprint Center has been awarded the men’s tournament through 2014, and the women’s tournament has been awarded to Municipal Auditorium through 2013.
Loading ...
