Dodd posted an article that said some schools were basically ready to join the Big 12.
Harlan tweeted "give me a break"
He then followed it up with an interview where he said
- The plan has been to stay at 10 and then assess
- They don't have a deal yet but are close
- Things are moving at their own pace and are fine with that
- He doesn't appreciate the outside speculation to get clicks
- There's "high expectations with ADs and certainly the presidents and chancellors for the commissioner to nail this thing so we can march forward"
Which honestly isn't much different from what the Arizona president said
- The plan is to stay at 10 until they see what the deal is
- They don't have a deal yet, but are close
- He's not concerned by the pace and would actually be happy to wait longer
- He thinks a lot of erroneous speculation is being driven by outside forces who don't know details
- He has high expectations - thinks it will come in ahead of the Big 12 deal
The Arizona president also offered a few other noteworthy comments, including highlighting the value of Big 12 basketball and the value of a Texas presence. He also spoke about how he wanted to invite Big 12 teams to join them after OUT. So those are somewhat more positive for the Big 12. But overall, it sounds like both
- Are not worried about the timeline
- Believe they're close to a deal
- Think there's been a lot of outside-driven speculation
- Waiting on a deal for which they have high expectations