Beebe: Texas, OU decisions 'anticipated'

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe released a statement on Monday evening in response to Texas and Oklahoma's announcements that they have authorized their respective presidents to act on behalf of the university in matters pertaining to conference realignment.

"The actions taken today by the governing boards of the universities of Oklahoma and Texas were anticipated. It is my opinion that the case for the Big 12 Conference continues to be as strong today for all of our current members as it was last year, especially considering the welfare of those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility-the student-athletes. We continue to apply all effort and resources toward assuring our members that maintaining the Big 12 is in the best interest for their institutions."

After Monday's regents' meeting at Oklahoma, OU president David Boren said he had spoken with Pac-12 officials, calling them "warm and productive discussions."

Pac-12 deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg, essentially the Pac-12's No. 2 man behind commissioner Larry Scott, served as Big 12 commissioner from 1998-2007.

From our report:

Boren made it clear that OU had not notified the Big 12 Conference it was leaving and that remaining in the Big 12 was "still on the table." He added, however, that the threat of litigation by other Big 12 members had not affected OU's position of exploring realignment.

"Obviously, we do not want to continue to have these kinds of situations where our membership in a conference has to be revisited every year," Boren said.

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