If Nebraska won't commit to Big 12, everything will fall apart
10:13 PM CDT on Monday, June 7, 2010
Column by CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News | ccarlton@dallasnews.com
Chuck Carlton
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While Nebraska decides whether it's in or out of the Big 12 , an aggressive Pac-10 is going all-in.
The ultimatum countdown continued Monday for the Big 12, marking maybe the most significant week since the conference was formed in 1994.
Nebraska and Missouri have only a few days to commit to the Big 12 through 2016, with the Cornhuskers viewed as the deciding factor in the conference's future. The Friday deadline might be flexible.
The Pac-10 authorized commissioner Larry Scott to pursue expansion on Sunday and is prepared to add Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State from the South, along with Colorado, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.
While the discussions this week will include official invitations, sources said, the talks are also a continuation of high-level conversations with the expansion candidates dating back several weeks.
Despite Baylor's lobbying efforts with Texas lawmakers, Colorado remains a favorite of Pac-10 presidents, according to a source.
Right now, the unstable Big 12 landscape resembles nothing more than one giant game of Jenga, with the Cornhuskers the critical piece. If they refuse to commit to the conference, then everything collapses.
Nebraska hasn't been in this big a spotlight since the BCS title game against Miami after the 2001 season. With chancellor Harvey Perlman and athletic director Tom Osborne keeping a low profile, nobody knows how Nebraska might be leaning.
Nebraska can swallow its pride, pledge allegiance to the Big 12 and agree to stay in the league through 2016. The Cornhuskers could work the phones with the expansion-minded Big Ten and opt for a new home if the news is favorable.
Or, in what could be a case of calling the conference's bluff, Nebraska might just ignore the ultimatum.
Osborne has long been worried by Texas' dominance of the league. Nebraska and Texas clashed in the league's formative stage about athletic eligibility. Texas won that battle for more stringent academic standards. The conference office went to the Dallas metropolitan area.
Osborne's feelings about a perceived Texas tilt in the conference surfaced in an interview with the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star before the recent spring Big 12 meetings.
"I imagine we may have some discussion as to how you start or stop the clock on an incomplete pass," Osborne said, a reference to the Big 12 football title game and a loss to Texas.
But what will Nebraska bring to the Big Ten? The Cornhuskers have one of the greatest football traditions in the country but less than 700,000 households in the state. That's not going to move the meter for Big Ten Network revenue like Missouri or Rutgers.
The Big Ten may still be focused on landing Notre Dame to the exclusion of all other candidates, according to a source. Without assurances of a spot, the Cornhuskers might find themselves in a husk of a conference.
Big 12 North schools that have been notably absent from expansion scenarios are urging Nebraska to commit.
"There are some universities that survive and thrive without a large athletic program," Kansas chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little told the Associated Press. "I hope we don't have to test that out."
