(01-05-2018 01:37 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 09:56 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 08:53 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 04:03 PM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 05:40 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  If/when OU moves to another conference, is this a fair characterization of preference for their partner

Fans/boosters/new conference: UT
The Oklahoma state legislature: OSU

No....absolutely not. As a native Okie that has closely followed both the political climate and the relationship between OU and OSU, for about 50 years, I assure you the Oklahoma State Legislature has no bearing on whether OU and OSU stay together or not. In fact there is an old law passed back around 1940 that seems to actually forbid the Legislature from such action.

I have posted this info before in response to one of Frank's post and in reading his post on this thread, he seems to acknowledge that the notion of OU having to take OSU is maybe perceived and not realistic.

OU and OSU each have their own Board of Regents, BUT both of those boards report to the State Board of Regents for Higher Education, which governs all State Colleges and Universities within the State. So they ultimately report to the same board.

The Universities have always cooperated on educational matters. Working through the State Board of Regents they tried to eliminate duplication where possible. I am talking about the schools of medicine, law, architecture, veterinary medicine, geology, petroleum engineering etc.

There is a very close and cooperative relationship between OU and OSU. Both Universities would very much like to stay together.... but they will go their separate ways if necessary. OSU will not stand in the way of OU going to the Big10. Neither will the State Legislature.

OU once before left OSU for another conference and the Legislature did nothing.

On top of all that, I would point out that about 70-80% of the people in Oklahoma are OU football fans. Any state politician that would oppose OU going to the Big10 alone would be committing political suicide.


As for UT....a lot of OU fans would prefer that OU be in a separate conference. Most probably do not care if they are with UT or not. Certainly most do NOT see staying with UT as necessary.

I can vouch for what SMUMustangs is saying here. He said it better than I could.

When and if push comes to shove, OU will be allowed to leave OSU if necessary. It would not be the optimal political situation, but it would be allowed to happen.

The outgoing president of OU has family connections to OSU. As former governor and senator, there is even a building at OSU named after him. As an experienced and savvy politician, he has been looking out for OSU along with OU. Yes, there are political considerations, but there is absolutely nothing official keeping OU and OSU in the same conference.

KU and K-State are a slightly different story. They are governed by the same board of regents. The politics would be more difficult, but KU would ultimately be allowed to move to the B1G if it were the only opportunity for the state to have a power conference school.

OU and Texas are a marriage of convenience. They were in separate conferences for 77 years. As long as the rivalry is preserved, they do not have to be in the same conference.

I would think that the primary considerations that will have to be weighed are:

1. What is best for the Oklahoma Athletic Program as a whole and where do their collection of sports fit best.

2. Where will they get enough total revenue to be able to continue to upgrade facilities. Travel crowd size, distance to venues, and ticket prices will have a lot to with this. And it will account along with donations for a much higher % of revenue than just TV contracts.

3. Fan accessibility and geography will play a role, as well as games they want to see.


I think the academic issue is overstated. Where a school plays its sports has little to do with its academic associations and the Big 10 can't garner AAU status for them. They have to do that for themselves.

And, whether OSU travels with them would be just a plus.

So I would just say that Oklahoma would essentially have its pick of where they end up. The usual message board hooey will have little to do with it. It will be a practical business decision if/when that time comes and one that weighs as best it can all of the ramifications of moving.

What the political people, higher educational boards, and oSu boosters, may be concerned about is not so much conference separation between OU and oSu; rather, if OU leaves, oSu is not left in a financially weakened, and much less prestigious conference situation. So, the hope would be oSu gets picked up by another P5, and not remain in a potentially more depleted Big12.
OU and oSu, if they do have a conference separation from each other, would still want to play each other (ooc) in multiple sports, fb and bb certainly included.
OU likely cannot keep Texas and oSu yearly scheduled in fb without one of them coming along with them. The BIG's scheduling methodology, for example, has limited flexibility.

I tend to view oSu as being under-valued by the sports media and chat. oSu has a solid, sustained, and winning program. They get over-shadowed by OU's marquee name and lofty success. The point being, oSu would be regularly and respectedly competitive in any other P5 conference. That cannot be said about everyone else in the B12. Of course I am referencing athletics, and not necessarily market factors, academics, cultural identity, etc.

Future scheduling is a huge part of the problem for OSU and OU. If they are separated then OU needs two OOC games for UT and OSU. So yeah, that's why they are more likely to move together than not. And if OSU is left out of the P5 movement which is possible due to a small market and not having big brand status then it does become a political issue when they suffer a loss of revenue.