Big 12 schools should be ready to have a frank discussion with their commissioner next month about the conference's future.
Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe told Kansas City radio station WHB that Big Ten expansion talk will be discussed during the Big 12's meetings from June 1 through 4 in Kansas City, Mo.
“We need to come to terms with and we need to have a frank conversation in Kansas City,” Beebe told the radio station on Wednesday. “We need to talk about where we're going and who's on the plane when it takes off. I will be very direct and talk about that with our membership.”
It appears that Beebe will remind representatives from member schools about the success Big 12 sports have enjoyed, particularly in football.
“We've got a lot of good things in store for us if we stick together,” he said. “It would be a shame, given that all boats have risen with this tide created by the Big 12, that they think they can have a better future somewhere else.”
WHB reported this week that the Big Ten had extended membership offers to Notre Dame and Rutgers, and Big 12 members Missouri and Nebraska.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told officials from his conference Tuesday that no offers had been extended to any school.
On Monday, Nebraska officials shot down talk that the Big Ten has offered an initial invitation.
“The University of Nebraska has not been offered any opportunity to move from the Big 12,'' said Meg Lauerman, a spokeswoman with Chancellor Harvey Perlman's office.
A Nebraska source told The World-Herald that Husker Athletic Director Tom Osborne met with some coaches last week and said he didn't expect the Big Ten CEOs to gather until mid-June or later to discuss any moves. Other athletic department officials who saw Osborne on Sunday night said he made no mention of any such invitation.
Lauerman said in NU's statement: “Both Chancellor Harvey Perlman and Athletic Director Tom Osborne have indicated that the university would consider any opportunity that would advance the interests of the university. ... We remain committed to the success of the Big 12 Conference. Until the Big Ten Conference makes and announces its decision on expansion, the University of Nebraska will have no further comment.''
The Big Ten athletic directors will meet from Monday through Wednesday in Chicago. They will be joined by faculty representatives, senior women's administrators and the head coaches in football and men's and women's basketball. Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith said the meetings were routine and nothing would be decided in terms of expansion.
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