OU and OSU Announce They Will Remain in Big 12

Both schools canceled Board of Regents meetings that were scheduled to take place Wednesday.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:47 am

By: News On 6

OU and OSU Announce They Will Remain in Big 12

Originally Published: Jun 14, 2010 6:33 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Oklahoma and Oklahoma State announced that they would both remain in the Big 12 after speculation that they would both end up in the Pac-10.

Both schools sent out press releases Monday evening stating their intentions.

“The decision to stay in the Big 12 represents a consensus position which resulted from a collaborative effort with our colleagues in the conference,” said President David Boren and athletic director Joe Castiglione in a joint release. “We value the strong working relationship that has been reaffirmed during this process among the conference members. We intend to work very hard to make the conference as lasting and dynamic as possible. We appreciate the respect and interest that has been shown to OU during this process.”

The Cowboys, in addition to announcing their plans to stay, were pleased with Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe’s 11th-hour efforts to keep the conference intact.

“We applaud Commissioner Beebe’s bold moves and intense efforts over the past several days to keep the conference not only together, but also more viable than ever,” said Oklahoma State president Burns Hargris. “We also appreciate the collaboration of all conference members to reach this agreement.”

A source close to the Texas football program confirmed to Sports Director John Holcomb that the Longhorns would also remain in the Big 12 and are expected to announce it Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

Oklahoma State canceled its originally planned Board of Regents meeting Monday afternoon, while Oklahoma waited to cancel its until it had made its intentions to remain in the conference known.