NU in Big Ten heaven

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

NE Statepaper

 

 

Pretty interesting read especially the latter half where Sam starts to spell out what seemed to have transpired. I apologize if this has been posted already

 

snippet....

Even so - Nebraska’s ascendancy to the Big Ten was swift and unexpected.

 

At a dramatic Regents meeting that sent ripple waves across college athletics, Perlman indicated that NU wasn’t considering a move until Missouri and Colorado started speaking openly about leaving to the Big Ten and Pac-10, respectively.

 

“We thought Nebraska was in a very vulnerable position,” Perlman said.

 

So Perlman and Osborne sought an informal meeting “three or four weeks ago” with Delany and the Big Ten and found that Nebraska’s goals and values aligned well with the league.

 

“But that’s all we walked away with,” Perlman said.

 

NU’s candidacy shot to the top of the pile when, at Big 12 meetings held in early June, Texas forced the hands of Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado by announcing it had a blockbuster offer from the Pac-10, which intended to invite six teams from the Big 12 to join a super conference.

 

The Big 12 issued an ultimatum: Commit to us by June 15, or risk watching the Texas Six bolt for the West Coast. Perlman relayed his timetable to Delany.

 

“I also told him that was my problem, not his,” Perlman said.

 

The clock ticked. Perlman said he asked Texas to relinquish its rights to football and basketball to the Big 12 - thus, in effect, creating a Big 12 Network. UT declined. Perlman said he also asked Texas President Bill Powers if the Longhorns would stick with the Big 12 even if Mizzou and CU left.

 

“They could make no commitment,” Perlman said.

 

Wednesday, two days before the move, Perlman got a call from Beebe. The offer was this: An unequivocal commitment to the Big 12. But only until 2016.

 

“Neither Tom nor I thought that was a very long-term commitment to the Big 12,” Perlman said.

 

That set in motion a move to the Big Ten. The Regents met by conference call on Wednesday to add a resolution to the agenda. By Friday morning, Delany put in the call to Beebe: Nebraska’s applying. We’re accepting.

 

Perlman and Osborne spent much of their Regents presentation laying out a compelling case that Texas’ unwillingness to compromise - and its Pac-10 gambit - lie at the roots of Nebraska’s departure and the potential destruction of the Big 12.

 

Osborne, subdued and congenial for most of the day, slightly raised his tone and sharpened his inflection for his short-but-damning summation.

 

“One school leaving a conference does not break up a conference,” Osborne said. “Two schools leaving a conference does not break up a conference. Six schools leaving a conference breaks up a conference.

 

“We have acted independently, we have been transparent, we’ve let people in the Big 12 Conference know what we were thinking, we have not hidden any agenda, we dealt with only one conference and we’ve been straight up with them. We’ve not tried to influence or coerce anyone to go with us or anything else.”

 

Later, Osborne extended an olive branch to his former league.

 

“I don’t want members of the Big 12 to feel that somehow we look down upon them or we’re glad that we’re gone,” he said. “If some of them end up in unpleasant circumstances we’re sorry about that.”

 

For now it does not appear any of them are joining Nebraska in the Big Ten. Beebe said he didn’t believe the league was further interested in any other member school, which would include Missouri, which believed itself a certainty just one month ago.

[Street Novelist]

Texas has no one to blame but themself.

[Captain K]

I was pretty sure we'd find out that WE started the process well before other teams threatened to ''look around.'' And people question our loyalty to the conference. I'm a bit disappointed that TO and Perlman weren't looking out for us a little better, especially with our dissatisfaction with the 12. Oh well, it happened anyway.

[Creed]

The Big 10 is in NU heaven too.

 

Big 10 was kicking the tires of a Ford then were given the keys to a Lexus.

[GM_Tood]

Texas has no one to blame but themself.

 

 

+1