Pac-12 To Stay, Missouri To SEC, Iowa State To MWC - Or Not - What's It All Mean?

Earlier tonight the Pac -12 chancellors and presidents voted to reaffirm to stay at 12 members, meaning that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State won't be invited to the conference. There's some indication that the reason was because of Texas (GASP!) and the realization that with Texas add to the conference that the idea of equality would be thrown out the window.

This comes just a few hours after Oklahoma president David Boren made public reforms that would needed to take place for them to stay in the Big 12, amongst them the removal of Dan Beebe as commissioner and establishment of firmer rules for the Longhorn Network, which remains the main reason for the de-stabilization of the conference.

Just when it looks like the Big 12 might survive, a report was release that Missouri has reached an agreement to join the SEC, becoming the 14th team after Texas A&M. That report was denied by the SEC, stating that no agreements had been reached with any school other than Texas A&M.

Missouri apparently isn't the only school talking to other conferences (as if there's any chance they aren't all talking to someone) Iowa State confirmed that they're talking to the Midwest Conference.

What's it all mean?

In a nutshell it means that the Big 12 will mostly likely survive another year. Or a few weeks, at least, although it's gotten to the point that even Texas fans are disgusted with their school's actions.

If there's anything certain, it's that Dan Beebe's reign as Big 12 commissioner is over. When a school with the clout of Oklahoma demands your ouster publicly and complains you're being too favorable to one school (Texas, as if I have to write that), you're done if for no other reason than someone must be sacrificed to appease the angry throngs of fans.

The popular opinion is that the Big 12 will dissolve. Right now that looks doubtful. As long as Texas and Oklahoma stay in the conference, and that looks like what is happening, the conference will remain viable. Changes will need to be made, ala Boren's demands, but the conference is still the best location for Oklahoma as they get to keep their main rival, Texas, and they get a bigger piece of a decent-sized pie rather than split it amongst more conference members.

The same remains true for a school like Iowa State. The Mountain West might provide a more competitive landscape, but the money  (something Iowa State sorely needs) would be much less.

What's next? No one knows, and when I say that, I mean NO ONE. There are too many moving parts for anyone to have a handle on what will happen over the next few months (weeks? days?). Everyone has decisions to make, all dependent upon everyone else's decisions, particularly when it comes to the Big 12.

There's no question the conference is unstable. The question is - can someone be found with the negotiating prowess that makes the existing schools understand it's in their best interest to stay.