The Fate of the BIG XII Conference.

In an article posted to the New York Times about 45 minutes ago, Pete Thamel wrote the following:

In a telephone interview Wednesday evening, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said there was “nothing official” to report on Nebraska. He said there had been a lot of misinformation throughout the months of rumblings of conference realignment and said there was a will within the conference to remain together.

“I think there’s a strong, strong interest to ensure that the Big 12 exists, regardless of any kind of possible departures,” Beebe said.

He added that the conference would not rule out carrying on without a conference football title game; N.C.A.A. rules require 12 members for such a game.

“It would be one less obstacle to getting into the national championship,” Beebe said. “I think television value would still be there. I’m not talking about any specific school that would be departing. It would still be an extremely strong conference and player in the national landscape.”

Further down in the article, he also quotes a Big 12 athletic director (who remained anonymous) as saying “I think people realize that there’s something still viable, whether it remains at 11 or 10 or we look to expand back to 12 to keep this going.  We have a lot of equity and prestige and competitive balance.”

For fans of the big 12, we know this to be true, no matter what ridiculous governers (*coughNIXONcough*) may say.  And with all the rumors that the Big 12 is simply done for, it's nice to know that the folks at the heart of the matter are fighting.  Beebe assures Big 12 fans that he is doing everything in his power to keep the Big 12 heart alive.

Now we wait and watch...