Deadline or No Deadline: Late yesterday, AAS's Kirk Bohls wrote that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. will go to the Pac-10 on Tuesday, but that Texas A&M is on the fence about whether to join the Pac-10 or the SEC. Here's the goods:
"The decision has been made," the official told the American-Statesman. "We’re bringing everybody to the Pac-10 but A&M."
The official said the Aggies have a 72-hour timetable to decide whether to accept the Pac-10’s offer. The official also said those formal offers could be made over the weekend.
There's a couple of things here. First, Bohls calls it a timetable and not a deadline, which I think is important because I do believe, from everything that is being scheduled, is that there does appear to be a timetable. Maybe not a deadline, but certainly a timetable. Second, and maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but this appears to be a situation where the Pac-10 is calling the shots. This isn't to say that the Pac-10 doesn't want TAMU, I think they do, but I seriously doubt that the Pac-10 won't wait forever for the Aggies and if Kansas or Utah are willing partners then wouldn't the Pac-10 make a decision and move on?
Third, as mentioned yesterday morning, always consider the source. If yesterday morning I sounded like I didn't trust or appreciate the work that OB.com's Chip Brown has done, that's not true at all. This guy has been on top of it, but I also firmly believe that there is a reason he has information and is able to confidently report what's being played out before our eyes. Brown knew what was going to happen because he knew that the Longhorns were going to do. The same could be said for Bohl's sources quoted in his article. There's a reason why those officials wanted that information out there.
Late yesterday, SAEN's Brent Zwerneman refuted the timetable placed on the Aggies and inserted the term "deadline" into his story:
The UT regents board is meeting Tuesday in Austin. Texas A&M is mulling the Pac-10 deal or joining the Southeastern Conference. The two insiders disputed an Austin website's report that Texas A&M has a 72-hour deadline to make a commitment to the Pac 10.
Snip
Both A&M insiders said they knew of no such deadline and that A&M would make a decision on what conference to be a part of after careful deliberation. A report on the Austin American Statesman's website cited a "highly placed official from a Big 12 school" as claiming A&M has a 72-hour timetable.
Zwerneman is a TAMU beat-writer, just as Bohls is a UT beat-writer. There's a reason why both stories are out there and just like everything else in life, consider the source. I don't think that either reporter is wrong and believe that both reporters are merely being told what one side says and now there's a bit of a game being played between the Aggies and Longhorns.
Either way, both stories state that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St. are headed to the Pac-10 on Tuesday.
Texas Tech Regents to Convene: LAJ's Matthew McGowan writes that the Texas Tech Board of Regents will convene on Tuesday. The UT Board of Regents are scheduled to meet Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. and Texas Tech is scheduled to meet at 2:00 p.m. Everyone can probably figure this out on their own, but doesn't it appear that this three hour window will allow for UT to have the meeting, make the announcement and then have a press conference? Me too.
Beebe Working to Keep Things Together: ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett has quotes from Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe working to keep the remaining ten members of the Big 12 together. As the old saying goes, you can wish in one hand . . . In any event, Beebe did confirm that the Big Ten would not be asking any additional Big 12 schools to join the Big Ten, which means that Missouri is left out of expansion talks. I've said it before and I'll say it again, please don't hold the entire state of Missouri responsible for the governor's remarks regarding Texas Tech and Oklahoma St. Go as far back as you want, the folks over at Rock M Nation never endorsed their governor's comments because their governor's comments weren't very smart. Sometimes governor's say dumb things.
Tuberville Warns Aggies: Hat-tip to BC, Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville was on with Houston's SportsRadio 610 and had a simple warning for the Aggies and their desire to join the SEC:
"Well, they’d better really, really think about it before they cross those borders, and cross the Mississippi River, because it’s a totally different type of football, different brand of football, a different type of recruiting. You gotta really be careful as to what you are getting into."
If you had any reservations about Tubs, perhaps this seals the deal.
Open Thread
Consider this your open thread for the day. I'm not expecting any news to break over the weekend and maybe I'll be able to catch up on a couple of articles that I'm trying to finish. Also, feel free to use this post as a World Cup open thread and make sure and check out SB Nation's World Cup coverage.