Five years ago, Oklahoma president David Boren stood at the construction site of a new campus dormitory and declared that the Sooners would be no wallflower during this second round of conference realignment. Borens comments sent a clear message that Oklahoma was no longer necessarily committed to making the Big 12 work in the age of the Longhorn Network. That sudden shift destabilized the Big 12, ignited a panic throughout the league and prompted Missouri to jump ship for the SEC.Five years later, the Big 12 faces another fork in the road. Once again, the Sooners are on the spot. Only this time, Oklahoma is loaded with leverage -- to dictate what happens to the conferences grant of rights, its composition and its overall future.Two weeks ago, the conference authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to begin exploring the leagues expansion options and start negotiating with prospective candidates.Texas immediately placed its expansion cards on the table, with president Greg Fenves seemingly endorsing the Big 12 candidacy of the University of Houston over Twitter not two days later -- launching the ball across the Red River.Making the critical question now: What does Boren want? The answer to that could go a long way in determining the direction of the Big 12 in the coming weeks.While Bowlsby has been examining expansion possibilities, the Big 12s television partners, ESPN and Fox, have anxiously been waiting to see what happens. Due to a pro-rata clause in the current contracts, the networks are on the hook for roughly $25 million for every school the Big 12 adds, regardless of the school, through the end of the deal in 2024-25. That could total up to $800 million if the Big 12 expands by four schools, an option Bowlsby and Boren have both stated is on the table.That has obviously placed the networks in a precarious position.If the Big 12 pulls the trigger on expansion, one recourse the networks would have would be to request an extension to the grant of rights, to at least gain long-term security for the leagues live content. Recently, ESPN agreed with the ACC on a network, which will launch in 2019. In exchange, ESPN got the ACC to sign an extension of its grant of rights through 2035-36.The difference with the Big 12 is that ESPN and Fox, contractually, have nothing to leverage the conference for the grant of rights extension -- the $25 million-per-school increases are already in the contract.On this one, ESPN and Fox can only ask and hope.The good news for them is that several of the Big 12s members might be incentivized to sign such an extension. In the event the Big 12 ever dissolved, its not entirely clear that everyone in the league would have a Power 5 landing spot. The Big Ten has a track record of only inviting members of the prestigious Association of American Universities; two-thirds of the Pac-12, meanwhile, are AAU-affiliated. Other than Texas, Kansas and Iowa State are the leagues only AAU members. And Oklahoma and Texas are the leagues only national football brands.Maybe Texas Tech and Oklahoma State and Kansas State would have a Power 5 home elsewhere. Maybe not. Big 12 survival is a safer route.Because of its lucrative deal with ESPN on the Longhorn Network, which doesnt expire for another 15 years, Texas has 225 million reasons to stand pat in the Big 12.Oklahomas only motivation, however, would only be, well, an altruistic stance on greater Big 12 stability.However, one industry insider, who worked directly with programming before recently leaving for another job in the industry, indicated getting the Big 12 schools to sign a grant of rights without offering anything in return will be a tough sell for the networks, even as they have to shell out up to $800 million to the league. More likely, to get a grant of rights extension, ESPN and Fox would have to put forward an immediate renegotiation of the Big 12s tier 1 and 2 deals, and pay the Big 12 up to the levels of the SEC and Big Ten. The Big Ten is now getting an estimated $250 million per year from Fox for only half of its rights.If the networks put that on the table, the Big 12s viability for the next two decades would be virtually assured. But only if the Red River flagships signed off. If either balked against a proposal the rest of the conference supported, it could, once again, send a message to the other Big 12 members -- that the Sooners arent completely committed to the conference.It might say, OU could begin flirting again, the insider said. That theyre not sure about the Big 12.Of course, Boren could attempt to utilize this leverage for whats clearly become his white whale: a Big 12 network. The ACC previously implemented a clause in its agreement with ESPN that triggered the upcoming network launch. If the ESPN or Fox were unwilling to do yet another network deal now -- but still wanted a grant of rights extension to avoid competing with a Netflix or a Google for rights down the line in an ever-changing media landscape -- perhaps Boren could procure such clause on a future Big 12 network.Still, given the current television climate, that could prove to be too ambitious.Even then, Boren would still have the option to push back on Texas.To get a new school into the conference, eight of 10 schools must sign off. Its hard to envision the Longhorns being able to get Houston into the Big 12 without Oklahomas support. Boren could demand Texas sanction his expansion school of choice, in exchange for rallying northern support for Houston.The Sooners have long believed to have had their eye on BYU, which has the strongest football brand of any non-Power 5 school. The Cougars also have a national following through the Mormon Church, and operate near Salt Lake City, a top-35 TV market. Boren also has shown interest in Cincinnati; he traded emails with then-Cincinnati president Santa Ono last year. Besides that, Boren could also press Texas to support a four-school expansion, which would net the conference an additional $50 million a year.Just what lever will Boren pull? That remains unclear. What is clear is this -- he has a move to make.Five years ago, those moves had a major impact on the direction of the league.They figure to this time around once again. Cheap Custom Blues Jersey . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Custom Blues Jerseys . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. 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Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race.Lee Westwood fired a superb 66 on the opening day of the DP World Tour Championship before expressing his disappointment at being denied a debut in the World Cup of Golf. Westwood rediscovered the form that carried him to the title at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in 2009 as he made seven birdies and dropped just one shot to claim the outright lead on six under. Lee Westwood fired one of his best rounds of the year to lead the DP World Tour Championship His round was a well-timed response to being axed from Englands two-man team for next weeks World Cup of Golf in Australia, an event he had been looking forward to having been chosen by Danny Willett back in August. But Willett withdrew from the event last week due to his ongoing back issues and, with Justin Rose currently taking an extended break from golf, Chris Wood was installed as Englands highest-ranked player. Westwood was set to partner Danny Willett in next weeks World Cup of Golf Under the rules of the competition, the highest-ranked player in each team gets to choose his own partner, and Wood opted to bring in his good friend Andy Sullivan instead of sticking with Westwood.I had never played the World Cup before so I was really looking forward to it, and Ive heard Kingston Heath is such a great golf course, Westwood told Sky Sports. After Willetts withdrawal, Chris Wood was Englands highest-ranked player and chose to partner Andy Sullivan Danny asked me to play back in August. We were paired together in the Ryder Cup, so we thought wed have a go at the World Cup as well.Obviously Im a little but disappointed, but everybody has to do certain things for certain reasons, and I understand. It goes down the world rankings, so it was up to me to be higher up the rankings to be able to pick my own partner. If Im high in the world rankings and the money list next year, he (Wood) probably shouldnt be expecting a pick if I play in the World Cup! But its Chris prerogative to pick whoever he wants. He gets on well with Sully, and Sully is a good player, and theyll have a chance.I can unnderstand him picking a mate and hes picked a very good player.dddddddddddd. I think its probably more to do with the rules than anything, but I think the week before somebody is meant to go down there is a little late to say, no, youre not playing. Westwood bounced back from his disappointment with a 66 in Dubai Westwood, who is ranked seven places below Sullivan at 47, did lift his spirits with one of his best rounds of the season in Dubai which emulated his opening 66 over the Earth Course that set him up for a dominant six-shot victory seven years ago. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price That win is certainly in the top two or three performances in my career, he added. Its maybe even the best performance of my career, knowing that I needed to win to beat Rory in The Race to Dubai, and did that by six and pretty much dominated the field over the weekend and its right up there.Today was all good really. I played lovely, hit a lot of fairways, a lot of good iron shots, putted nicely and I didnt make too many mistakes out there. This is as good as Ive played for quite some time. Westwood laps up the applause as he approaches the 18th green Ive found a couple of keys in different parts of my game and Ive been working on them hard. A 66 is a good round of golf, and it didnt seem that easy out there. Some days you feel like theres a lot of birdies out there but today I think was a pretty stiff test.Its a golf course Ive played well on in the past and Ive had quite a few good results here other than the win, and played pretty well in the desert. Ive been looking forward to this week.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: Westwood snub unfair Rose to team up with Stenson Golf live on Sky Sports 4 European Tour Schedule ' ' '