Pac-12 Expansion (Or Not): Larry Scott Autopsies Deal, Waves In Direction Of Longhorn Network

Now that the notion of Pac-12 expansion is dead, at least for the moment, Commissioner Larry Scott is talking about the end of the potential mega-deal that could have brought Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and perhaps Texas and Texas Tech to the westernmost BCS conference. Among the new details: Scott actually began telling Pac-12 presidents that he didn’t think they should make the deal on Monday, the same day that Texas and Oklahoma’s boards authorized their presidents to explore other conferences.

So what caused the deal to go under? Scott doesn’t say exactly, but the commish vaguely gestures in the direction of the Longhorn Network, long thought to be the main barrier to landing Texas.

But the Pac-12’s condition for membership will be non-negotiable, Scott said: Equal revenue sharing. Even if that means leaving money on the table.
Said Scott, “An opportunity was turned down that could have generated more money for the schools but potentially could have torn apart the fabric of the culture of the conference.”

Since Texas is apparently open to more equally sharing the revenues from the Big 12 contract, the hang-up would appear to have been Tier 3 rights. Those are the kind that the Longhorn Newtork is built around.

As for the bit about Oklahoma playing the Pac-12 to get concessions from the Big 12. A dealmaker and businessman like Scott has to respect the supposed strategy. Even if he doesn’t completely believe it.

“I have nothing but respect for the leadership of the University of Oklahoma,” he said. “I don’t want to contradict anything that they feel they need to say as part of the process they are in.”

Of course, the odds that we will ever know exactly what happened are fairly small. But fans of several Big 12 schools are just glad that it’s over.

For more on where the conference goes from there, go to Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes. See the Longhorn perspective on things at Texas blog Burnt Orange Nation. To get a look at what Sooners fans are thinking, head over to Oklahoma blog Crimson And Cream Machine.