Two reports over the past 24 hours had Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott flying to Texas and Oklahoma to personally deliver conference invites to five schools.
Apparently, the process of officially dismantling the Big 12 has commenced in earnest.
Scott flew to Oklahoma City earlier today, the Daily Oklahoman reports, to meet with officials at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and presumably hand out invitations to the Pac-10. Scott is expected to do the same with the state of Texas in the very near future, personally inviting Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.
The paper also reports that there could be one last-gasp effort to save the Big 12 on Monday; athletic directors and possibly television executives may meet to ascertain whether the league is salvageable and financially viable given the earlier defections of Colorado and Nebraska.
As far as an invitation is concerned, the paper writes that the earliest OU’s or OSU’s board of regents could convene to vote on the invite would be Wednesday as state law requires 48-hour advance notice of a board meeting. Neither school could call a meeting until Monday at the earliest.
Texas’ board of regents is scheduled to meet late Tuesday morning, at which point it’s expected the Longhorns will accept the invitation to the Pac-10. If that were to happen, three of the other schools -- OU, OSU and Tech -- are expected to quickly follow suit.
The lone wild card remains A&M, who is reportedly stumping for a spot in the SEC. The tea leaves say, however, that A&M is likely to follow their state and South Division brethren to the West Coast when it’s all said and done.
UPDATED 8:24 p.m. ET: Jake Trotter of the Oklahoman tweeted a couple of minutes ago that “OU board of regents to meet Wed. to discuss conference realignment.”
UPDATED 9:09 p.m. ET: Oklahoma confirms via a statement that president and athletic director met today with Pac-10 officials. Also confirmed that regents will meet Wednesday to discuss conference alignment.
