I found the response from the president and AD at ISU comical, to say the least...

ISU officials disappointed by Nebraska's decision

...specifically this...


...

Saw this:
"Amid reports that Texas and at least three other schools in the Big 12 could soon announce they are leaving for the Pacific-10, Texas' Board of Regents has called a meeting for Tuesday in Austin to discuss conference membership and take "appropriate action … if needed," according to a news release.

The Longhorns, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are being viewed as a package along with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but Texas A&M is said to be also eyeing the Southeastern Conference.

The presidents of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State met Saturday with top Pac-10 officials. OU's regents plan to meet Wednesday to "weigh possible conference options," spokesman Jay Doyle said"

But Beebe is working hard behind the scenes to keep the Big 12 (now with 10 members oddly) together, showing that revenue from losing Colorado and Nebraska ain't that meaningful.

It will take Texas AM several years to be competitve in the SEC. Texas will dominate the PAC 10. I think they would have had their problems with the Big 10.

It's funny how the results on basketball programs never seems to be part of equations (at least fan equations) when discussing realignment. Football rules!

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I've read that Texas' football program generated $80 million last year while programs like Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke basketball each generated around $17 million - which is why no one if fighting to get Kansas (or NC or Duke for that matter).

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You know me like that.

Rumors out of Texas A&M are that their Board of Regents are sharply divided on what Conference to go to, with the SEC having a slight edge of the PAC-10. A broader consensus has to be built either way for a decision.

Remember, Texas meets on Tuesday and will likely say they are going to the Big 12. Oklahoma meets on Wednesday and will likely make the same announcement. Shortly after, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are expected to follow suit after that. The wild card APPEARS to be A&M, but nobody knows for sure.

The Big Ten will accept Nebraska as a member on July 1st, 2011, which means the football season after this one.

The Big Ten is considering a division realignment that would create overlapping divisions rather than a traditional North/South or East/West, and could name the divisions something entirely different, like Black/Blue, etc. For instance:

Ohio State could be in a different division than Penn State, even though they are the closest together. Balance of power is considered more crucial than geography and overlapping divisions evens up the travel costs.

The SEC should be more interested in getting The U than Texas A and M. I suppose AM opens up new markets, but southern Florida has a big population as well and good Miami teams bring viewers.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The interesting thing is if you did a traditional East/West alignment this year with NU in, the west would be better than the east with 3 potential top 10 teams in Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin in the west.

It seems that in a last ditch effort to save the Big 12, they are offering schools to be able to start there own television networks.

Obviously that would be big in Texas but do you really think that it's going to get the exposure of a nationwide Big Ten or Pac 10 Network?

I can't imagine that Comcast in Chicago is going to pick up the Texas Network for the 3 football games a year they'd show and 2 games a week of Big 12 basketball.

A conference with uneven revenue distribution is destined to fail. This would keep things together for a few years at most.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The money is made in college basketball is in the post-season tournament, not so much in the regular conference season play.

That's why football is driving re-alignment.

Edit:

I'm a little confused on Texas A&M. I am no expert on anything related to the state of Texas though.

Why would A&M leave the Big 12 for the SEC when a Pac 10(6) spot is available. No natural or real rivalries. A conference that they'd have a hard time being anything but average in. The state of Texas following the Pac 10 much more because the biggest school and another school are in it.

Unless A&M believes it can use playing in the SEC to become as popular as Texas it doesn't make sense to me. I would think they will be lost in the shuffle as most of Texas becomes Pac 10 country.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

SEC is arguably the most powerful conference... and would be moreso with a more cohesive TV package. Texas A&M would love to be a part of that... I gotta imagine most schools would. Every team thinks it can win (or at least compete effectively) in the conference. A&M has a pretty rich football history. I don't find it odd that they'd consider the SEC. And its not like the SEC has that stringent of academic standards. Could be a good fit.

You are probably right. I still think the Pac 10 would be more lucrative, as even the SEC tv deal isn't as good as the BTN's and was negotiated after the network started.

I just think that A&M would get lost in the SEC kind of like South Carolina where at least in the PAC 10 they'd have games weekly on a national network and increased interest in the battles of Texas.

On another note, I find it funny that the Big 12 is doing this whole big thing to "save the Big 12" when the obvious answer to the whole thing will be for the Big Ten to then invite Missouri, Rutgers, Notre Dame, and Texas with a final offer and a claim that they will expand to 16 and be done no matter what. Rutgers and Missouri accept immediately, and the Big 12 loses another member and so does the Big East. Notre Dame knows that if they don't join that another Big East member is gone.

I'll give Notre Dame credit if they stay independent through this whole thing. It could be incredibly damaging long term to do so because the game of musical chairs will eventually end.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think you are right on many accounts. I think A&M may have an inflated sense of their worth. And they could indeed turn into an also-ran in the SEC.

I hate to admit it, but I think NU (the real NU, not UNL) could turn into an also-ran in the Big 10. But then I remembered that we are already an also-ran... so I felt better.

Oklahoma seems to be an undervalued commodity in all of this. They are a top football program and usually competitive in basketball.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I'm thinking there is some truth to this "Save the Big 12" controversy. Apparently there is a TV network that approached the Big 12 and offered a deal. Obviously the lynchpin would be Texas. And you know they are going to want an advantageous profit position... which I'm sure Missouri and Kansas would agree to in order to save their ass.

Well it looks like the talk of a 16 team Pac 10 conference is over for now and the Big 12 stays alive.

Texas has declined to leave the Big 12 and will stay as will Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Since it looks like Texas did all this and saved the Big 12, all I have to say to Texas, Thank You. I am not a big Big 12 fan, but I really didn't want 16 team conferences or super conferences, so it looks like all we will lose is the Thanksgiving weekend game between Nebraska vs Colorado.

I will say, that I could see the Pac 10 go after Utah to have a 12 team conference and a championship game.

Awesome...

Looks like the only changes from a realignment perspective this season may be Nebraska to the Big Ten, Colorado to the PAC-10, and Boise State to the Mountain West. Both Boise and Nebraska will begin play in 2011 and Colorado begins in 2012 in the PAC-10.

The PAC-10 now has 11 teams and may want to strongly consider having a 12th to add a Conference Title game.

No word on Texas A&M.

Earlier in the day, ESPN experts were reporting Big 12 sources claiming that these four teams had decided to leave the Big 12. Interesting change of events.

This was simply the first step. Until Rutgers and another team are invited to the Big Ten this isn't over.

The Big 12 can't survive with this setup. Three teams guaranteed $20 million + they can start there own network(devaluing the tv contract) and the other teams get whatever is left isn't a formula for long term viability. That's the reason that they are in this current situation.

What this actually did was put the original Big Ten expansion timeline back on the table.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If things were to end today, the biggest winners in all of this were the Big Ten, Nebraska, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma.

The Big Ten added the best team available and Nebraska joined the best conference available(money wise). The three schools above that stayed in the Big 12 got a great deal. The only issue that the Big 12 will have is that it is going to have less exposure since the title game is gone without 12 teams and losing Nebraska and Colorado lowers the footprint of the conference.

The losers end up being the Pac 10, because adding Utah and Colorado is at best a money neutral addition. The biggest loser in all of this is Missouri, who was on the verge of being in the Big Ten, and still may get in eventually, but now has to agree to even a wider disparity in revenue than three other conference rivals. If the Big 12 doesn't hit revenue projections, that guarantee will really hurt but it avoids scrambling for a conference.

The Big East is on the clock. The ACC, SEC, and Big Ten are definitely looking at some of your teams.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

My concern with the new deal in the Big 12 is that marquee teams from other conferences will start looking for the same sweet deals from their conferences that Texas got. And if they don't get it, then they threaten to leave and join a conference that will give it to them.

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Don't forget Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe. He just saved his job for another couple of years.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That's true. It will be interesting to see if the Big 12 tries to get back to 12 teams so they can have a title game again. I'm sure they will be sending some anonymous hints to Arkansas, the most logical team to join up, but I don't know if they would leave the SEC unless they were given the same deal that Texas got.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Exactly. Talking about whoring yourself out to keep business running. Just a bad deal for everyone else in the Big 12.

Arkansas, part of the original SWC would make sense and they never really fit in with the SEC. TCU is another one that could be considered. I've heard U of Houston also, but that seems like a stretch.