quote:
Did Texas set this up to chase Nebraska away? Possibly. If so, who cares? Not Nebraska. The Huskers are big winners here. For one, you get away from the Texas ego and drama and control, all of which will now only increase on the poor saps clinging to what's left of the Big 12.

-Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald

quote:
Texas is like the schoolyard bully who steals the five bucks your mom gave you for lunch, then gives you a nickel back to keep quiet about it. It's so swollen, its president spoke for all Big 12 schools when telling Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott that the 10 remaining schools would stay put.

-Courtney Linehan, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

quote:
I know Texas fans that were at the very least interested in seeing what the Pac-16 experience would be like. But I don't think they were nearly as interested as the number of Aggies fans that were ready to embrace a move to the Southeastern Conference.

-Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News

quote:
One school had to be made happy, and in the end, that school got everything it wanted. If the people in charge didn't know who their daddy was before, they certainly do now. That would be The University of Texas.

-Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle

quote:
There are issues, no question. The TV package (without revenue sharing), that is staggering. Revenue sharing is the right thing to do; it makes your league stronger. And for some reason, there are people in our league who can't figure that out. And so that's a problem. Look at Illinois. With their TV package, they'll get $11 million more dollars this year than Missouri does in the Big 12, so the value is what it is. We've got four more years of this contract, so Illinois, as they're building their athletic department, that's $44 million more. So that's not very good for our league. For the life of me, it's hard to understand why we have to do it this way.

-Mizzou Coach Gary Pinkel, on the financial arrangements of the Big 12. This was from a few weeks ago...how do you think he feels about the new arrangements?

quote:
One school leaving a conference does not break up a conference. Two schools leaving a conference does not break up a conference. Six schools leaving a conference, breaks up a conference. We have not had a hidden agenda, we have not dealt with more than one conference. Thats someone else.

-Nebraska AD Tom Osborne

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If the University of Texas and other Big 12 South schools left for another conference without Baylor, it would be Armageddon for our university.

-Baylor's most powerful trustee Buddy Jones, in emails sent to Texas legislators.

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It doesn’t alarm me. I take more of a historical perspective. Historically, if you look back over the last 50 years, there’s been contraction and expansion in college athletics. Going back to South Carolina to the SEC, Georgia Tech to the ACC, the Big East getting raided by the ACC … through all of that, we know two things: the sun comes up, and college athletics is exciting and vibrant. The world was (supposedly) ending when the Big Eight and the Southwest Conference went away. The world was ending when the ACC raided the Big East — but the Big East has never been stronger. The natural order will take place, and what’s supposed to be will be, and everybody will move on and it will be vibrant.

-Iowa State AD Jaime Pollard on not giving a crap, or at least successfully acting like so.

quote:
The five without a (possible) home were drowning, and for us to charge them to get in the boat would not be fair. I would be shocked if we would follow through with this.

-Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance, on taking the exit penalty money paid by Nebraska and Colorado and giving it to UT, A&M, and OU.

quote:
The SEC reaffirmed its reputation as the most powerful conference in football. The flirtation with Texas A&M muddied up the works for a day or two, and had the Aggies fallen for the SEC's seductive charms — for starters, it would have taken an official offer — our conversations today would be a lot different.

-Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman.

The Hilarious:

quote:
“How do you know they haven’t called us?”

-KU AD Lew Perkins, when asked if he would like the chance of joining the Big Ten.

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I’m sure that for (Perlman) and for others, the conversation will involve a great number of issues. I did not get an indication from him on which way things were going to go.

-KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, on her personal call to Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman urging him to stay in the Big 12.

quote:
These five (Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State) were looking at life without these three (UT, A&M, OU) schools and not liking it. They felt there was little or no risk where we go with future media deals, and they said, 'We don't want them to leave because of money.'It's only those five institutions' money they're talking about. If they want to give up all their money to some other school for charity, they could do it. It's totally their prerogative ."

-Big 12 Commish Dan Beebe, trying to keep a straight face while discussing the "charitable donations" being given to Oklahoma, Texas, and A&M from Mizzou, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor.

quote:
Hell no, they weren't serious. The Aggies would die if their athletic department said, ‘We're going to the SEC and Texas is going to the Pac-10.'

-T. Boone Pickens, when asked if he thought A&M was seriously considering moving to the SEC.

quote:
The Big 12 is a great league that just got better. You're asking me questions about Nebraska and Colorado. I don't care about them.

-Frank Martin, Kansas State basketball coach

quote:
If you want to earn as much as Texas, schedule like Texas. One cupcake is fine. Two are tolerable. But those games don't attract a national television audience, and they don't deserve a lion's share of the television loot, either.

-Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch...not sure WTF he is talking about considering

quote:
We applaud the strong leadership of the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. We value the commitment they have made to this new, 10-team Big 12 model and for choosing this strong path forward. The arrangement to which we have agreed safeguards the best interests of our student-athletes, while promising future revenues that will benefit our students and our programs.”

- Baylor Prez Ken Starr.

quote:
The loser is the Big Ten. Nebraska coming in was a big deal for commissioner Jim Delany, who had to believe two super conferences — his own Big Ten and the Pac-10 — could run the Big 12 out of business and cripple the Big East in football. Now, only landing Notre Dame can make this thing a success for the Big Ten.

-Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman...WTF...cripple the Big East in football?

This post was edited on 6/17/10 at 1:04 pm