SEC Coverage

The University of Texas Board of Regents will meet Tuesday to for "discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership." In other words, June 15 may be the final day of the Big 12's existence as we know it.

Everyone is being tight-lipped in the expansion process. Everyone, that is, except for ECU AD Terry Holland. He's taken the unusual step of publishing all of his thoughts straight to you, the public. He says that CUSA is planning on raiding the leftovers if the Big 12 falls apart. He also appears to have contacts within the Big East, saying that it "has been in a bunker mentality, hoping to keep enough of its eight current members to remain a viable FBS (formerly Division I-A) Conference with automatic qualification for BCS bowl games." He then talks at length about the Big East's motivations and his thoughts on that, probably because a lot of ECU fans hope to get a Big East invitation if someone leaves. He even goes as far as to speculate on the future: "As for the rest of the expansion nationwide, I believe Texas will hold the Big 12 together. Texas and Oklahoma should be very happy to say "good riddance" to the conference championship game. Those two teams have a better chance for each to end up in BCS Bowls in a given season without the "double jeopardy" that a conference championship game creates for them. In fact, a nine-member Big Whatever should be their goal. If Texas holds the Big Whatever together, the Pac 10's "quick strike" will come back to haunt them because they are now committed to finding at least one more member who can add value to the Pac 10. Colorado's main value was as "bait" for Texas, Oklahoma, etc... in order to create real value for the Pac 10." Any other ADs out there willing to go this far on the record? Someone get me Mal Moore on the phone for his dissertation on the subject. Oh, and all hail the Big Whatever.

CNBC's Darren Rovell talked to Barry Frank, an executive from IMG Media about whether conference expansion makes fiscal sense. IMG, you'll remember, is one of the companies that universities sign up with when negotiating their local media rights. Frank doesn't think the big windfall is really out there. He doesn't believe ESPN can pony up what the Pac-10 will ask for, and that Fox is its only hope. In addition, he doesn't believe Nebraska would be a net positive in the Big Ten or that Texas A&M would be a net positive in the SEC. Of course, this is just one media executive, and he might have reasons we don't know about for tossing cold water on the story. Plus, Rovell himself has been lukewarm on conference expansion all along, although he has also found a former CBS sports president who agrees with him. It is a valid question though - can Texas A&M and another team for balance really bring an extra $34 million a year?

Here you go, folks. It's the first officially confirmed domino to fall in the conference expansion game. The Pac-10 has put out a press release announcing Colorado's admittance into the fold. Colorado fans seem happy, overall.

When the SWC dissolved and the Big 12 formed, the Texas State Legislature and governor's office had their fingerprints all over it. It's sounding a bit different this time. State representatives John Smithee and Joe Heflin, both Texas Tech grads, predict that the TSL won't get involved because the political climate has changed in the last 16 years. The governor's office also released a statement saying that, "Decisions about conferences should be made by the individual institutions." If Texas A&M was going to break away from Texas and Texas Tech to come to the SEC, this news is exactly the sort of thing we'd need to hear. Then again, these are politicians who are talking, so bear that in mind when listening to them. I still am not convinced that Texas and Texas A&M want to be split up, but if they did, they'd need a hands-off TSL to make it happen.

The San Jose Mercury News's Jon Wilner is reporting that Colorado is likely to accept a Pac-10 invitation today. As in, a day before Nebraska is supposed to formally announce its Big Ten membership. Also according to Wilner, the five other rumored schools (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State) are committed to joining the Pac-10 together if Nebraska bolts. So yeah: the SEC's talks with Texas A&M don't appear to have added up to much. If somehow the Big 12 stays together despite losing Colorado and probably Nebraska, the Pac-10 would add Utah to get to 12. That's the story out of San Jose.