Big 12 commish: We're in a good place for the future

As Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe noted Tuesday, the media was "excited to see where the hearses were headed," but Beebe succeeded in heading off the hearses at the pass. Despite losing Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-10 last week, Beebe received assurances from Fox and ABC/ESPN for the television money necessary to keep Texas and hold the 10-school league together.

By convincing Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to reject overtures from both the Pac-10 and the Southeastern Conference, Beebe also succeeded in stopping the runaway train of college realignment. Had the Pac-10 formed the first 16-team "superconference," the Big 12 would have fallen apart, Big Ten expansion might have accelerated, and other conferences, including the Big East, would have been threatened by the domino effect.

"So many people in the business felt it would not be good to have these 'megaconferences' that really are just business associations," Beebe said in a national teleconference. "We landed in a good place, not just for the Big 12, but for the future of intercollegiate athletics."

Contrary to early reports, Beebe said the Big 12 has no new TV deals in place. However, ABC/ESPN, which has a deal running through the 2015-16 season, and Fox Sports network, which has a lesser deal for the next two years, told Beebe there will be no reduction in rights payments for the loss of Nebraska and Colorado. Further, both offered strong assurances of a hefty increase in payments that might be negotiated as early as next spring.

Beebe declined to verify reports that Texas, Texas A & M and Oklahoma could receive $20 million per year from future deals with the other seven members getting $14 million to $17 million.

"In the spirit of having not negotiated deals and having just verified our value, I don't want to limit what we might get," Beebe said. "We might get a higher number . . . We will solidify these commitments through media contracts as we go forward."

Beebe confirmed that Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor, the five schools that would have been left behind by expansion, have offered to give the penalty fees that Nebraska and Colorado must pay, which could amount to $20 million, to Texas, Texas A & M and Oklahoma. The higher market value of those three schools will be reflected in future TV deals, but no details have been finalized.

At the moment, the Big 12 has no expansion plans to fill its two vacancies, and Beebe said the possibility of a name change will be discussed later. As for any hard feelings about the near-breakup, Beebe said, "Any exercise like this results in bruises that have to heal, but also there's an understanding of how much we need each other."