UPDATE 5:47 PM
Latest word out of Nebraska is an official denial of any firm decisions on switching conferences.
UPDATE 3:38 PM (YES, ALREADY)
Chip Brown again: Nebraska's regents informally agree to go to the Big Ten with a formal announcement to come Friday; unnamed Big 12 South admins say that absent Nebraska, the Big 12 will die.
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Pac-10 expansion? Big Ten expansion? Big 12 dying? We'll see about that.
REPORTS OF THE BIG 12's DEATH ARE GREATLY VARIED, PERHAPS EXAGGERATED
Kansas and Kansas State are concerned about being left out of a major conference. The state's senators aren't going to sit back and wait to see what happens though, and I'm not talking the local legislature.
US Senator Pat Roberts (a K-State alum) was caught pressuring Senator Ben Nelson to make sure that Nebraska doesn't jump to the Big Ten. He later cautioned, "There's going to be a lot of litigation, and then Congress will probably try to stick its nose into it." So yeah, the lawyers and politicians are going to be getting involved. Fantastic.
Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa also speculated that Congress could stick its nose into the situation, and former Iowa governor and current US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urged Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska to keep the Huskers in the Big 12. Nebraska's administrators had a conference call this afternoon, presumably to discuss the matter.
Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com has been tweeting details throughout the afternoon as well. He was the one who broke the first Pac-16 story last week:
- He says that Texas and Texas A&M are meeting tomorrow to make sure they're on the same page.
- If the Big 12 loses just one or two teams, he reports that BYU and Air Force are potential replacements.
- The deadline for judging the viability of the Big 12 is Monday, June 14.
- A sliver of hope remains if the Texas legislature keeps pushing Baylor, as Cal doesn't want a religious school in the conference.
THERE IS A THIRD "BIG" CONFERENCE BESIDES THE 12 AND TEN, YOU KNOW
The Big East is not content to sit back and die, apparently, which would be a reversal of almost 10 years of conference policy. Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says that the conference might invite the Kansas schools if the Big 12 falls apart. Adding those two to the Big East's basketball league would make an even more insane conference, which makes me wonder if it would kick out dead weight like DePaul.
Joe Schad adds some weight to that, but I wonder if he's just repeating Greenstein's report. He also says to expect the USC penalty report tomorrow, which at this point is a sure sign that it's not coming tomorrow.
OH RIGHT, THE BIG TEN
Schad again here, giving the Big Ten's top three choices: Notre Dame, Nebraska, then Rutgers and/or Maryland. Conspicuously absent: Missouri.
AND THE SEC?
No news is good news, and there is no news to report.