In the Kerr-McGee Courtside Club, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione gave his first press conference on June 15th, explaining the school’s decision to stay in the Big 12 conference.

As the cards fell on the massive conference realignment that would have caused a seismic shift across the NCAA sports landscape, OU was at the center and Castiglione was ready to end all the talk.

“We’re pleased the matter of conference membership has now been put to rest,” Castiglione said from the onset.

Castiglione made it clear the relationships within the remaining Big 12 schools were a vital reason, among many others, for staying with the Big 12.

However, he said OU did listen to several proposals after Colorado bolted for the Pac-10 and Nebraska joined the Big Ten.

During the course of the last week’s conference-realignment talks, OU’s athletic department was one of the most widely courted in all of college football.

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott even made the trip to Oklahoma City on Saturday to solidify the Pac-10’s chances in the Sooner sweepstakes that included interest from the SEC conference.

All the speculation would come to pass, however. The Big 12 was saved from extinction in the final hours.

Leading up to Monday, a new development seemingly revealed itself every hour in a story that continued to build upon itself.

All signs pointed to the fact that eventually the Pac-10 would become the new home of the Sooners.

Along with Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, the remaining members worked out plans for a new television package and additional revenue sources for the conference.

On Monday, OU rejected the Pac-10 invitation in a stand of solidarity that would be joined by other members of the Big 12 through a press release issued from Castiglione and President David Boren.

“The decision to stay in the Big 12 represents a consensus position which resulted from a collaborative effort with our colleagues in the conference,” Boren said in a press release. “We value the strong working relationship that has been reaffirmed during this process among the conference members.”

“We intend to work very hard to make the conference as lasting and dynamic as possible. We appreciate the respect and interest that has been shown to OU during this process.”

The new deal also will allow for the potential creation of an Oklahoma Sooner sports television network in the future.

Which is why, according to University of Texas President Bill Powers, the Longhorns stayed in the Big 12 and the conference still stands today.

“Certainly one thing we would be giving up is the fact that we currently retain our (television) rights, as does every other school in the Big 12,” Powers said. “That is of value, I believe, to all or at least most of the Big 12 schools.”

“That’s not true in most conferences. So, certainly the television network was an issue. It was a cost for us to enter the Pac-10.”

Castiglione noted during his press conference that more than $3 million worth of high-definition equipment installed throughout several athletic sites on campus with the potential television network in mind.

Among some of the other changes that Castiglione said is in the works for the conference include moving towards a nine-game Big 12 schedule without a conference championship.

The new schedule would force every team to play each other as schools hope to remain undefeated to earn the Big 12’s automatic berth in the BCS.

A tradition that will fall by the wayside, however, is the Sooners’ rivalry with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

With commitments already from Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame and Ohio State, another matchup with Nebraska seems unlikely for another decade barring a collision in a bowl game.

When Castiglione was asked about the hesitance to make a separate decision and choosing to follow Texas’ lead, he quickly reminded people that “OU needs Texas and Texas needs OU.”

Castiglione said, ”The University of Oklahoma stands on its own ... We make our own decisions. We choose what’s best for us. No one else.”