The Wiz of Odds

Texas A&M Prez: Show Me the Money!

Remember that back-door deal that Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Missouri made to help keep the Big 12 together (minus Colorado and Nebraska)? Those schools guaranteed Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M at least $20 million in conference revenue beginning in 2012-13 if they would remain members of the league.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said that Texas and Oklahoma have declined the gesture, but Texas A&M wants to make the other schools live up to the promise.

Aggie president R. Bowen Loftin, above, issued the following statement Wednesday:

"A key part of Texas A&M's decision to remain in the Big 12 earlier this summer was the commissioner's commitment that Texas A&M would receive a minimum of $20 million annually in future conference distributions. We remain committed to the conference, and fully anticipate that the Big 12 will honor its commitment to Texas A&M."

The Houston Chronicle reported that Texas A&M is prepared to go to court to get the deal in writing. A high-ranking A&M official told the newspaper that the school would consider leaving for the Southeastern Conference if its demands were not met.

Part of the reason the Aggies are pressing for the money is that the athletic department is in the early stages of paying back a $16 million loan to the university.

Beebe's Campaign of Fear Helped Save Big 12

If you don't believe that Texas ultimately saved the Big 12, then credit commissioner Dan Beebe.

Beebe implored conference leaders for a renewed commitment and investment in the league to fend off poaching attempts last month by the Pacific 10, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, according to documents obtained by the Dallas Morning News.

The documents, obtained through an open records request to Texas Tech, include a "confidential white paper" that Beebe sent to leadership groups at the start of the league meetings on June 1. The following week, the heat was on, with the Pac-10 making a pitch for six Big 12 members.

(Editor's note: Andy Staples of SI.com was the first to obtain the "white paper." Read his account here.)

Beebe warned league members beforehand about time zone and travel issues for teams considering a jump to the Pac-10, then took this shot: "The facilities and fair weather fans are a disappointment," he wrote.

SEC's Play-Call in Expansion Was the Sneak

As the late Paul Harvey would say, now we know the rest of the story.

Oklahoma president David Boren, right, acknowledged Wednesday that the Sooners and Texas A&M received invitations to join the Southeastern Conference earlier this month.

"There was a time when A&M thought they were going to the SEC and they very much wanted us to go with them," Boren said.

The schools — along with Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech — also had an offer to join the Pacific 10.

Boren characterized the Pac-10 offer as one that had been researched and planned. The SEC's offer, he said, was "more of a reaction to the situation. When they saw that the Big 12 might be no more, that all the schools might go somewhere else, they then started thinking about 'Who would we want?' "

SEC spokesman Craig Pinkerton told the Associated Press that he was "not in a position to comment."

Busted!

Does the New Big 12 Eliminate the Middle Class?

Rob from the poor, give to the rich. Welcome to commissioner Dan Beebe's new Big 12.

Thanks in part to a revenue distribution deal that helped keep the league together, Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor appear to have secured spots in the outhouse. The league's big three — Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M  — have reservations in the penthouse.

The Kansas City Star reported that the five poorest members of the league made an offer to use their shares of penalty money to ensure a certain level of revenue distribution to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

The penalty money, which would be revenue withheld from distribution to departing members Colorado and Nebraska over the next two years, could total $35 million to $40 million, the newspaper reported.

Texas president Bill Powers said on Tuesday that the arrangement "was not part of our consideration [for staying], and we oppose that kind of deal."

Texas and Oklahoma plan to start TV networks within two years, which likely will drive an even bigger stake between the league's haves and have-nots.

Other items of note surrounding the league:

Meet the Slim-Fast Version of the Big 12

So a college football blogger steps away from his computer for a few days and all hell breaks loose. The Big Ten becomes the Big 12, the Big 12 becomes the Big Ten, and the Pacific 10 becomes the Pacific 11. Go figure. ...

As a good friend pointed out, this is all meaningless, since the World Series of Poker is in full swing.

This high-stakes game of expansion is far from over. Despite Monday's announcement that the 10 remaining members of the Big 12 would bond together and make a go of it, plenty of hard feelings remain. Example 1A: Watch and listen to what T. Boone Pickens grumbled about Missouri.

Other reaction from around the league:

Nebraska to the Big Ten by Friday?

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe drew a line in the sand, and now Nebraska, guided by the steady hand of Tom Osborne, is ready to cross it.

The Cornhuskers are expected to become a member of the Big Ten by Friday, according to a report by Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald.

Sources at two other Big 12 schools told Barfknecht that their athletic directors have instructed them to be ready by week's end for a briefing on probable Big 12 changes. Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman is expected to address the topic with the Board of Regents at its Friday meeting in Lincoln.

"There's a lot of information we really don't have right now," Osborne said. "Hopefully we'll get these put together in the next few days."

Osborne also said the move has nothing to do with any grudge he or other Nebraska officials might have against Texas.

"This is not a case of reacting to any one school," Osborne said, "particularly Texas."