I really hope to see both OK teams bolt from the B12-2 and go to the Pac where they are both needed and where they would find xlnt competition that could possibly boost their image more, as if it wasn't already first class. Let the Sooners keep the RR rivalry game. But UT's brand of football won't mean much considering the disparity that exists now. Don't believe for a minute that their baggage hasn't been extreme. There's no room in any of the remaining Big 5 conferences as it is other than the Pac without breaching the curent 14-team size which would creae a super conference amid mini-conference(s.) One one hand, aside from Texas, the Sooners have TCU, Baylor, KSU and Texas Tech to fill up their season's schedule. On the other hand in the Pac, they would play Utah, USC, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and both Arizona schools to boost their SOS which could easily mean the difference between a CFP appearance and a second tier bowl.
In a few years when all of the TV deals are redone, the addition of Oklahoma and OSU could conceivably be worth an extra 5 million per conference school per year because of the marketability of the PAC with the added influence and national recognition that Oklahoma football brings to the table. Texas IMHO deserves to go independent because they have acted the part for a good decade or longer as it is. They are so full of themselves, I doubt that anyone in Texas would notice or even care. If the B12-2 hangs up its cleats for the last time, I can see where the MWC would gladly accept the remaining Texas schools and perhaps even the Kansas schools which would serve to elevate the MWC into big 5 consideration. That arrangement could provide a competitive advantage to both Baylor and TCU, KSU and over time Texas Tech as well... maybe a CUSA team would also provide a good fit. It all makes good sense to me because of the geographical factors that would exist logically.
I realize that at the time, when Larry Scott was heavily involved in conference realignment, the PAC AD's voted down the participation of Oklahoma etc. That was a mistake but understandably it was voted down due to the massive amount of details involved in adding 4 teams instead of just 2 to the Pac-10, not to mention the lack of financial security and exposure to unknown risk.
Then there's the Pac Networks which are 100% owned by the conference. If they decided to let 49% ownership get put up for bid between ESPN and FOX (after just a few years the value of the PAC Networks has increased to about $400 million) and 49% of it went for about $200 million, the current members would receive about $16 million each as a one-time share for the money received from the partial sale of the networks.
Just as a side note... there has been a lot of interest in broadcast rights and in competitive events between the schools athletic programs and the Pacific rim countries. Without going into the programming details, one very interesting aspect of this relationship is that students that attend Pac-12 universities from Asian countries pay full tuition as part of their cost of attendance. That price would of course apply to Asian students attending Oklahoma as well as the other conference member universities. The added interest from Asian communities will provide an unanticipated windfall for the schools involved.
The consequences of the Pac doing nothing more about the current status quo would leave the PAC schools with an $8-$10 million shortfall compared to the revenues received by each SEC and B1G school. Sure, the PAC would still divide up their current revenues to the tune of about $23-$24 million per school but nowhere close to the projected share for the SEC and B1G members which will top $32 million per school after 2017. This disparity could cause great harm to the conference, especially when the budgets are expected to rise considerably from the O'Bannon trial and other pending budget matters like full COA and Title IX.
When Tom Hanson was the Pac-10 commish, TV revenues were a paltry $10 million or even less per school. If he had not been put out to pasture when he was, there could have been a revolt among member institutions the likes of which no one has ever seen. There was even a website dedicated to seeing Tom Hanson retire. Larry Scott turned that inequity around in a New York minute, but his job is far from finished when you look down the road only 2-3 years from now.
A pretty good sportswriter, John Wilner who writes for the San Jose Mercury News about Pac-12 issues recently did a 5-part expose on conference budgets and cash flow which is where this data came from. His #1 criticism was centered around the lack of Oklahoma's presence in the league when the conference had a clear path to admitting the Sooners. That is probably the foremost reason why there still exists some concern over finances in the league. Now or something close to now will be a prime time for the Sooners to call their best shot and get the best offer from the Pac, not like before when there was entirely too much on the table at one time. I am sure that the PAC's ADs are now willing to pay Oklahoma the attention it deserves.
