As soon as the Pac-12 voted not to expand, thereby eliminating the option of adding schools like Oklahoma to the mix, the Sooners went on the offensive with the fantastic spin tactic, “We wanted to stay in the Big 12 anyway.“
Conference Realignment: Oklahoma’s Plan Was To Join Pac-12, Not Use It As Leverage
Turns out that might not have been exactly true after all.
...contrary to another report suggesting OU simply feigned interest in the Pac-12 from the beginning only to gain leverage on Texas, a high-level OU athletic department source explained that the Sooners had acted in good faith and had been planning to apply for Pac-12 membership.
“The plan was to go,” the source told SoonerNation.
According to the source, it was Oklahoma Sooners head football coach Bob Stoops, who was a proponent of staying in the Big 12. There's also one person claiming that Oklahoma actually pre-denied the Pac-12 before it publicly denied Oklahoma. So, I guess, it depends who you believe.
For more, visit Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes, Oklahoma Sooners blog Crimson And Cream Machine and Texas Longhorns blog Burnt Orange Nation. Oh, and TCU blog Frogs O' War.
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