• Photo Showcase: Friday's NU press conference

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• Video: Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini speaks at Friday's press conference:



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LINCOLN — Before any agreements were reached about Nebraska moving from the Big 12 to the Big Ten, Athletic Director Tom Osborne twice gathered his coaches and fellow administrators for a vote on making the switch.

“I did not try to steer it or phrase it in such a way that it would lead to a response to go to the Big Ten," Osborne said Friday. “I tried to weigh pros and cons and just ask them a question."

Both times, the vote was 100 percent in favor of the Big Ten.

“The reason that's important is that these are the people who are going to have to make it work," Osborne said. “If I were to go against their interest, I would not be doing the job I was supposed to be doing."

The unanimous votes shocked Osborne.

“I thought it would be 60-40 or 70-30," he said. “I was really surprised, and I didn't try to frame it in a way for them to think I wanted them to do it.

“We voted one time. Then about three days ago, after I came back from the Big 12 meetings, I got them all in one room and said, ‘Now this is getting serious. This isn't just speculation. I really need to know."'

Those coaches won't have long to prepare with the Big Ten planning to integrate the Huskers into competition on July 1, 2011 — meaning only one more year of Big 12 play.

Nebraska probably won't have to break any nonconference football contracts even with only one year to get into the Big Ten, Osborne said. NU will still try to schedule seven home games a year, and sometimes eight.

Commissioner Jim Delany said he presumed that his league would start a football championship game now that it will have the required minimum of 12 members to host one. Any league that holds a title game, by NCAA rules, must be split into divisions.

How Big Ten schools will be split and how many conference games will be played in 2011 are “to be determined."

“Our presidents," Delany said, “want to oversee that process."

Currently, Big Ten members play eight conference and four nonconference games in football, and 18 conference and 12 nonconference games in men's and women's basketball.

Scheduling and divisions will depend on if or when the Big Ten adds more teams.

Delany repeated that the league is only six months into its self-declared 12- to 18-month exploratory period on expansion.

“We're going to pause for a moment," he said. “We're going to work hard to implement an integration of Nebraska. But we're still open to and aware of what's going on around us."

Television executives interviewed by The World-Herald have said they believe that the Big Ten needs to expand to at least 14 teams to reach its goals for growth of its TV network.

If other leagues expand to 16 teams, Delany said, it won't impact Big Ten plans.

Missouri has openly campaigned for a Big Ten invitation, but it may never come.

Delany declined to discuss the likelihood of specific schools being invited. But Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said Friday that Delany told him that Nebraska was the only Big 12 team the Big Ten was considering.

Remaining members of the Big 12 are in full scramble mode, according to multiple sources.

Many are trying to sell the idea of proceeding as a 10-team league now that Colorado and Nebraska have bolted.

A 10-team Big 12 would retain an automatic BCS bid and a spot in the NCAA basketball tournament. As for games, the plan would be nine conference in football and a double round-robin in basketball for 18.

Sources told The World-Herald that Texas President William Powers is still pushing for a move to the Pac-10 — against the will of some big-name staff members — and that Texas A&M is seriously considering breaking away from UT and going to the SEC.

A UT regents meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. The next day, a state of Texas education commission will gather, and it has asked for UT to appear.

Other notables from Friday:

• Nebraska won't immediately earn an equal share of Big Ten revenue. Delany declined to give full specifics, but said current Big Ten members won't receive less while NU is integrated into the league. Also, NU will receive at least as much as it was getting from the Big 12. Big Ten schools received about $20 million each in 2008-09. Nebraska got $9.7 million.

• Will the Big Ten change its name now that it has 12 members? “I don't know the answer to that," Delany said. But it's doubtful. The league kept the Big Ten name when Penn State was added as the 11th member in 1990. Delany said people already are using computers to jockey with the logo and sneak the number 12 into it.

• Osborne said he'll do all he can to make sure that Husker athletes don't spend more time on the road in the Big Ten than they do now in the Big 12. He said more trips by plane will help with that.

• Rivalry games will be noted when future Big Ten schedules are devised. “Rivalries matter," Delany said, “but not all rivalries are created equally."

• The “what the heck was that" question of the day: A broadcast member asked if Nebraska would now host a bowl game.

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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