Nebraska headed to the Big Ten

[elcheato]

All signs are pointing to a Nebraska move to the Big Ten.

A source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents told Orangebloods.com the regents met informally Wednesday and have agreed to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday -- the deadline set by the Big 12 for Nebraska and Missouri to state whether they intend to leave the conference.

University of Nebraska regent Kent Schroeder told the Lincoln Journal Star earlier Wednesday there was a planned executive conference call this afternoon which he believed would include discussion about possible conference realignment.

An executive call does not involve all board members, just the Executive Committee, which consists of board chair Bob Phares and fellow regents Bob Whitehouse, Howard Hawks and Schroeder.

A source close to the Nebraska program told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that athletic director Tom Osborne informed athletic staff members within the past 24 hours that the Cornhuskers were going to make the move to the Big Ten conference.

An athletic director in the Big 12 told ESPN's Joe Schad that Nebraska has had discussion with the Big Ten and that there was a "good chance" Nebraska would join the Big Ten as early as Friday.

A Nebraska source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz late Tuesday that a decision on whether to commit long-term to the Big 12 or leave for a potential Big Ten invitation could come Friday and a Big 12 executive told the Omaha World-Herald that Nebraska could decide to join the Big Ten as early as Friday. However, the source told Katz the consensus within the athletic department is that Nebraska wouldn't separate itself from the Big 12 without some assurance that a Big Ten invitation would come.

Katz's source said the direction of the school is leaning toward the Big Ten, but there was no indication of when the Big Ten invitation would occur. The Big Ten has set no date for any announcement in the coming weeks, leaving open the possibility that Nebraska could be left in limbo.

NU regent Chuck Hassebrook told The Associated Press on Wednesday morning that he expected conference affiliation to be added to the agenda for Friday's previously scheduled board of regents meeting. Board bylaws allow new business to be added to the agenda until 24 hours before the meeting.

Schroeder, a Kearney, Neb., lawyer who has been on the Nebraska Board of Regents since 1998, also said he expects a presentation from university president Harvey Perlman and Osborne at Friday's scheduled board meeting on whether the school will change conferences or remain in the Big 12.

"I'm expecting them to tell me the plusses and minuses of remaining in the Big 12 or going to the Big Ten," Schroeder said.

But Schroeder, who served as the board's chairman in 2009, says he has no preference for either conference, because in order to do so, he "has to have data presented in a way that would allow him to establish a preference."

Schroeder told the Journal Star he suspects the regents might talk about the issue of conference realignment in closed session during Friday's regents' meeting, he noted that there are no votes that come out of such a session.

"Obviously any vote is going to be made in an open session," he said. "The question that will come today is: Suppose we have this closed session and come out of closed session, is it an item that needs to be advertised on the agenda?"

Schroeder told the Journal Star there have been no previous meetings between regents about the topic of conference realignment.

Osborne said in a radio interview Tuesday night that a decision should come soon.

"Hopefully we'll get things put together in the next few days," Osborne told the statewide Husker Sports Network on Tuesday night without indicating Nebraska's preference. "I don't know exactly what the time frame is [that] we'll be able to put this thing to bed. But I'm getting tired of it, you're probably getting tired of it, and the fans are getting tired of it."

Missouri appears to be falling down the list of priorities for the Big Ten.

An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten told Orangebloods.com, "Missouri is getting cold shoulder from Big Ten."

The Big Ten announced late last year it is considering adding at least one school, and possibly more, to add a league championship game in football and broaden the reach of its cable television network. Its decision has created a ripple throughout the power conferences, causing the Pac-10 to mull its own expansion and threatening the survival of the Big 12, which in addition to Missouri and Nebraska could also lose as many as six schools to a 16-team Pac-10.

With the future of the Big 12 up in the air, Texas and Texas A&M boards will be meeting Thursday, according to multiple media reports. The discussion is likely to focus on remaining united on expansion (given Texas A&M's on-again, off-again interest in the SEC) and the Colorado vs. Baylor issue regarding the Pac-10.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Wow what happened to them and Missouri going together. Nebraska must have been playing games....

And with the Pac-10 move it's going to leave a couple Big 12 teams in a weird position. Where will KU and MU go?

 

[elcheato]

 

[Blake]

LSUFREEK is the Man.

 

[Mooche]

LOL. That .gif is classic. Just read an article on the front of ESPN right now that said they are for sure headed to the Big 10. Interesting move.

 

[Big Bid'Ness]

No more Big Ten plus 1, It's now the Big 12 lol.

 

[elcheato]

Another team to beat up on MSU damn BB lol