Thought we should put something up to provide updates as they are coming through. Basically, one source seems to be driving all the rumors/updates the last few days and it resides with Texas backgrounds so we have to remember that when all of this is flying around. Clearly Texas is the big player in the mix and as of right now, according to those Texas sources, the Longhorns and their "people" are driving the whole expansion discussion with a little play from Notre Dame and Nebraska.
6/7 - 11:35 AM - I wanted to highlight a couple of great posts from around the SBNation world:
First from Bruins Nation:
So I am not sure what Baylor brings to this conference. I hope Scott considers how Colorado would be a better fit for our conference instead of getting influenced by preference of the Texas state legislature. Why should we let Texas politicians dictate the makeup of our conference? I sure hope Scott doesn't make his decisions based on those pressures.
I have not been the most ardent advocate of Pac-10 expansion any way. What is more important to me is the visbility and marketability of Pac-10. I understand the lure of bringing in Texas, which would be awesome but not sure if we have to play on the terms of Texas legislature and get forced into bringing in Baylor.
Second from Burnt Orange Nation:
Do you really want a [damned] lobbyist dictating to Stanford and Cal, and all of the other fine academic institutions of the Pac 10, and Arizona State, that a gnat of a school no one (and I mean NO ONE) wants in the Pac 10 is the price you have to pay to get Texas?
Baylor offers nothing. Nada. Zip. It is a mere leech. Well, OK, it seems to offer one thing: political expediency for the mass of pro-Texas, pro-A&M and pro-Tech legislators who seem to lack the testicular fortitude from preventing this from happening.
There are plenty of other college blogs around SBNation and any other network with the same viewpoints, but hey, when it comes to college football, when have the fans ever gotten what they want...?
6/7 - 9:10 AM - Chip Brown (man, I hope he is rewarding these sources well...) then goes on to confirm that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will all be getting invites. That last one? Well that's still up in the air:
Texas, A&M, TTech, OU and Ok St getting invites to Pac-10. Last invite still up in air between CU and Baylor.
6/7 - 9:05 AM - For those of you thinking the college football expansion news might slow down for the next few weeks after the bombshells that were dropped this past weekend, think again. It's happening, and it's happeningTHIS WEEK:
Pac-10 commish Larry Scott will start extending invitations formally to six Big 12 schools this week.
I guess we don't have to worry about this thing being dragged out for the next few months...
Much more after the jump...
9:19 PM - This is the first place that I have seen anything but the prospective Pac-16 being just two divisions, but Neil Woelk indicates that sources have told him that the conference has also explored having two "pods" within each division. As you can see below, this would mean more games in California, which would be great thing for the Buffs (provided of course, that we are included).
Sources have told me the Pac-10 has studied a "pod system" for a 16-team league in football. The league would be divided into two divisions, with two four-team pods in each division. Teams in each pod would play each other every year in football (three games), and play two teams from the other three pods each year for a total of nine league games. The two division champions would then meet in the league title game.
For the sake of argument, we`ll leave Colorado in the Pac-16 for the moment. Here`s one scenario of how the pods would break down: 1) Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma; 2) Colorado, Oklahoma State, Arizona and Arizona State; 3) Southern Cal, UCLA, Cal and Stanford; 4) Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
Such a breakdown would preserve all the historic rivalries save one: the "Bedlam Series" between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
7:54 PM - According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo!, "Kansas and Kansas State must stay together according to state law. Just one more bizarre twist in the ridiculousness of expansion"
Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com (somehow became the most trusted guy by every single athletic director and college football insider over the weekend) hears from an athletic director that if the Big Ten can convince Notre Dame to join the conference, the Big Ten will shut down expansion only taking the Irish. That would probably be the best case scenario for the Buffs as it would prompt Nebraska and Missouri to stay in the Big 12. Texas and others would then probably stay in the Big 12 meaning Colorado and Utah would be called on to join the Pac-10. If Notre Dame stays Independent, Nebraska and Missouri may join the Big Ten which would start the domino effect. It will be interesting to see who wants to expand more over the next few weeks, the Big Ten or the Pac-10. I have a hard time believing either conference will wait until the other one moves but it sounds like Nebraska and Missouri (along with Colorado) are the only players who have expressed to the Big 12 that they are not committed to the conference.
As always, follow us on Twitter for up to date news.
3:16 PM - The big rumor right now is the Texas legislative members are supposedly making it well known that if you want Texas and the other key members of the Big 12 South, Baylor is the pick over Colorado. Interesting to say the least. If orangebloods.com is correct, Baylor might be the reason Colorado is playing in the Mountain West.
Orangebloods.com is also reporting that Pac-10 athletic director Larry Scott has been given permission by league members to start handing out invites. The quicker the better on this I have to believe for the Buffs.
Their are three scenarios in play: Invite six teams from the Big 12 (might leave Colorado out of the mix), invite just Colorado and Utah or everything stays the same.
They also are reporting that 9 of the 12 teams in the Big 12 have pledged their allegiance to the conference at the league meetings last week. The three who did not were Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri. All three schools have ten days to make it known what they want to do.
I have a hard time believing the Pac-10 would "settle" on some of the schools that are rumored in the 16 team power conference - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor. But the mighty TV deal/money may win out in this one even if the Denver television market is left out. Texas is clearly the prize.
Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post thinks the Buffs should head to the Mountain West Conference which might make CU fans squirm.