Texas regents to meet Tuesday about Big 12 future

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - University of Texas regents will meet next week to decide whether the Longhorns will remain in the fast-disintegrating Big 12 or switch to another conference.

The regents announced Friday that they will hold a meeting in Austin for "discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership."

The future of the Big 12 is in jeopardy after Nebraska said Friday it wants to join the Big Ten and Colorado agreed Thursday to jump to the Pac-10. The Pac-10 is also reportedly interested in inviting Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to form a 16-team league.

Texas is considered the lynchpin to the Big 12's survival.

Longhorns athletic director DeLoss Dodds has said he wants to keep the Big 12 together. It was not immediately clear if scheduling the regents meeting meant those efforts have failed.

"Our goals and hopes all along have been to keep the Big 12 Conference intact," Dodds said in a statement. "The league has been great for its members. We also have been honorable, up front and forthright with regard to our work and responsiveness to all the possible and now definitive changes to conference landscapes."

"We are entrusted with the responsibility of administering our university athletics programs. That requires careful examination of any and all options. It is both premature and inappropriate to speculate on what our UT System Regents will discuss at next Tuesday's meeting. But, as the dynamics of the Big 12 continue to change around us, we will utilize additional time to continue our work and evaluate our options."

A telephone message left with the Big 12 was not immediately returned.

A spokesman for the Texas regents said the nine members would not comment before the meeting. Texas president William Powers Jr., was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment, but would be at Tuesday's meeting, spokesman Don Hale said.

Texas would need the regents' approval to change leagues. The meeting is required to be publicly posted 72 hours in advance, which would give Dodds the weekend to keep working if he thinks the Big 12 is still salvageable.

Texas A&M, which is reported to be considering a move to the Southeastern Conference, has not scheduled a regents meeting.

A&M president R. Bowen Loftin told The Associated Press on Friday that the school was content to stay in the Big 12, but the rapid changes are forcing A&M to consider other options.

"We're still working through the issues," Loftin said. "We're also waiting to see what happens with other schools. We were very happy to stay in the Big 12, the way it was. It's changing now, and we need to figure out what that means.

"The Big 12 is not what it was, and we have to think about its future, and ours."

Loftin would not comment on speculation that A&M is considering moves to the SEC or the Pac-10, or say if the school was leaning toward one league over another.

"We have not made any decisions at this point in time," he said. "I can say that the first consideration in any decision involving conference realignment is the athletes' well-being. Geography has to be a part of the equation, and then, maintaining a strong academic program and keeping that in place will be paramount.

"We're also a school that has a very strong consciousness for traditions, and that's a part of this, too," he said. "You have many factors in play here, none of which I would say is dominant."

Loftin said he would like A&M and Texas to continue their annual football rivalry, even if the teams end up in different leagues.

Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw reiterated Friday his school's desire for the four Texas teams from the Big 12 to "remain aligned" in the same conference - preferably the Big 12. Baylor, the league's only private school, would likely be left behind if Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech leave for other leagues.

"We're focused on keeping the Big 12 together and maintaining the rivalries that we've enjoyed with our four Big 12 Texas brothers," he said. "Those traditions go over the last 100 years and we certainly want to do everything we can to maintain those rivalries within the conference structure. "

McCaw also touted benefits of a 10-team Big 12, including a nine-game conference football schedule and 18-game schedules in men's and women's basketball.

"This new scheduling model would also provide the opportunity for the Big 12 to determine a true conference champion in football and basketball while also saving members from paying the skyrocketing costs of paying guarantees to non-conference opponents," he said. "In addition, travel costs and missed class time would be reduced in this model and thereby serve the best interest of student-athletes."

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AP Sports Writers Chris Duncan in Houston and Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.