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Texas Will Stay In The Big 12, Unless They Leave It Really Soon (UPDATE)

Sports fans were deluged with compelling matchups all weekend: England vs. the U.S.A., Celtics vs. Lakers, Stephen Strasburg vs. all comers. Today, thanks to the latest potential developments in the NCAA’s conference realignment saga, The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre presents us with a new matchup to keep an eye on: ESPN’s Joe Schad vs. Orangebloods.com’s Chip Brown!

We’ll forgive you for not getting quite as juiced over Schad vs. Brown as you did when Robert Green let Clint Dempsey’s shot slide by, but depending on whether Schad or Brown is correct about the Texas Longhorns’ future plans, the future of college athletics will be pushed in one of two very different directions.

Here’s Brown’s report. What’s the latest, Chip?

sources tell Orangebloods.com Texas has been convinced by a plan presented by commissioner Dan Beebe to stay in a 10-member Big 12.

Wow! Might have to do something about that conference name, but man, imagine that, if Texas just stopped all that expansion talk and stayed put. And now, here’s Schad’s report. What’s he hearing?

The departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 is imminent, four sources within the Big 12 said Monday.

One source said commissioner Dan Beebe’s last-minute plan to save the conference has “zero” chance to succeed. Another source said it is “very unlikely” to succeed.

Well, someone’s source is way off on this one, no?

And now we hear that SportsCenter is reporting Texas is still open to a Big 12 commitment, contrary to Schad’s latest reporting (ESPN.com’s article still says Texas’ move to the Pac-10 will happen soon). It’s also worth noting that both Schad and Brown seem to be hedging their positions ever so slightly via Twitter. Brown:

My sources say Texas is committed to coming to the table with the 10 remaining B12 schools to see if there’s consensus for the Beebe plan.

“Committed to coming to the table” is a lot different than a commitment to actually remain in the conference. Here’s Schad’s latest tweet:

[Chip Brown] is reporting that Texas has decided to save the Big 12. Certainly possible, though the Big 12 didn’t know this earlier today

So…both guys might be right, both guys might be wrong. It still seems to us like it would make more sense for a powerhouse school like Texas to spearhead efforts to strengthen a conference (in this case, the Pac-10) than to remain in a weakened one, but at this point, we’ll believe pretty much anything. Stay tuned, and we’ll update if anything more concrete materializes.

UPDATE 2: Incredibly, Texas is staying put. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M aren’t going anywhere, either. Either Texas’ dalliance with the Pac-10 was one seriously brilliant bluff, or the Big 12 just made one seriously brilliant sales pitch. ESPN reported before that Texas would get its own network and the biggest slice of the conference revenue pie, which is probably what sold them on staying. Also – major props to Orangebloods’ Chip Brown for breaking this story this morning, while ESPN’s Joe Schad, unfortunately for him, worked with bad info. Again, unbelievable job by the Big 12 to avoid conference dissolution, but there’s work to be done – starting with the “12″ in that name. Do they think they can poach two teams from other conferences and get back to 12? We shall see.

UPDATE: ESPN’s story on the situation now jives with Brown’s initial report, saying Texas is now “leaning toward” staying in a 10-team (and suddenly inappropriately named) Big 12. Texas would get a network of its own if the Big 12′s last-ditch plan comes to fruition, and would lead to them receiving $20 million-$25 million annually in TV revenue. Seems like an extraordinary step, but if it keeps the Big 12 together, most will probably see it as worthwhile. And if Texas does stay, Chip Brown gets some major, major scoop points.

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