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ESPN: Sources: Big 12 mulling Big East merger
ESPN.com news services
Big East and Big 12 conference and school officials have been exploring ways to merge their embattled leagues, but talks have centered on an arrangement in which what's left of the Big East schools would blend into the Big 12, and not vice-versa, multiple Big 12 sources told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
The sources said that if Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were to leave the Big 12 and the five remaining schools didn't have a landing in the ACC, SEC or Big Ten then they would move to absorb remaining Big East schools, not the other way around.
Boards of regents from Oklahoma and Texas voted Monday to give their presidents the right to choose a new conference, though the Texas regents still held the right to give a final approval.
If the Big 12 loses those four members, it would leave Missouri, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State scrambling.
One Big 12 source said the reason it would absorb the Big East is the conference's ability to secure a television deal, currently with Fox, and three more years with ESPN/ABC -- although a new configuration could open it up to a new arrangement. ...
ESPN.com news services
Big East and Big 12 conference and school officials have been exploring ways to merge their embattled leagues, but talks have centered on an arrangement in which what's left of the Big East schools would blend into the Big 12, and not vice-versa, multiple Big 12 sources told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
The sources said that if Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were to leave the Big 12 and the five remaining schools didn't have a landing in the ACC, SEC or Big Ten then they would move to absorb remaining Big East schools, not the other way around.
Boards of regents from Oklahoma and Texas voted Monday to give their presidents the right to choose a new conference, though the Texas regents still held the right to give a final approval.
If the Big 12 loses those four members, it would leave Missouri, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State scrambling.
One Big 12 source said the reason it would absorb the Big East is the conference's ability to secure a television deal, currently with Fox, and three more years with ESPN/ABC -- although a new configuration could open it up to a new arrangement. ...
