After a brief lull, stories about the impending end of the Big 12 conference are coming at a torrid pace now. So much so that I am afraid to go workout for fear that I'll come back and I will no longer be able to find the conference we have called home for the last 12 years. As I wrote on Twitter, it's been really hard for me to accept that the Buffaloes may actually be moving to a new home. Not because I don't want them to, but mostly because we now live in a day in age where exaggerations and rumors are proven incorrect almost daily. But it starting to look more and more like the entire landscape of college football as we know it is changing, and it's changing this week. Let's take a quick look at the most recently developing stories.
This was around 5 MT:
Sources say Colorado's mtg Tuesday night was about Pac-10 and Buffaloes will "opt out" of the Big 12.
Chip Brown
ChipBrownOB
As was this:
Six schools being invited by Pac-10 - TX, A&M, Tech, OU, Ok State and Colo - expected to accept invitations, begin play in Pac-16 in 2012.Chip Brown
ChipBrownOB
Next, we finally hear from a source not pseudo-affiliated with the University of Texas:
A source close to the Nebraska program told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that athletic director Tom Osborne informed athletic staff members within the past 24 hours that the Cornhuskers were going to make the move to the Big Ten conference.
Sounds like it's adding up to a lot more coastline in our future doesn't it (or at least a lot more desert...)
UPDATE 6:47 PM - The LA Times is now citing a Pac-10 source that says that the deal is "lock and loaded" and that CU would still be the number one choice if the Big 12 South schools were to turn down the offer:
With Nebraska reportedly headed to the Big Ten Conference, the Pac-10 is poised to extend offers to six current Big 12 Conference members, ramping up its numbers to 16.
Pac-10 Conference officials declined to talk about the deal on the record because of the sensitive nature of negotiations, but one with knowledge of the plan said, "It's locked and loaded.
Even if Texas and others decide to stay in the Big 12, the Pac-10 would still make a move to expand by two schools, sources said, with Colorado being the No. 1 target.
UPDATE 9:04 PM - We just got another confirmation that Colorado's invite has already been received. While we may not be sure of exactly what the Buffaloes new conference may look like, it's almost a near certainty that they will be joining the members of the Pacific 10 conference in either 2011 or 2012:
Colorado already has received an invitation to join the conference, while five other invitations will be extended to Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.