The Big 12 Conference is probably one University of Texas Board of Regents meeting away from the last rites. Nebraska's announcement Friday that it will bolt to the Big Ten, one day after Colorado left for the Pac-10, sets up a potential mass exodus of the Big 12 South. Texas officials meet Tuesday to discuss the Longhorns' future, one in which athletic director DeLoss Dodds said last week would not include a league with only 10 members. 'Certainly we've had a couple of disappointing days at the Big 12 Conference,' commissioner Dan Beebe said during a hastily prepared teleconference. 'We are still working tirelessly to ensure that the other 10 members have a bright future.' The Pac-10, seeking a league championship game and a record TV contract, is interested in luring Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. A Texas departure could bring along the other Big 12 schools. The Austin American-Statesman reported Friday that all but Texas A&M will join the Pac-10 when they receive formal offers, citing a source in the Big 12. Only A&M, which is considering a move to the Southeastern Conference, remains on the fence. If A&M goes east, the official said, the Pac-10 may take Kansas as its 16th member. The expected moves would contradict Beebe's claim that there is a 'high interest to continue together.' Beebe is trying to convince schools that a 10-team Big 12 would still command a huge TV contract. 'We have pretty good evidence that if our 10 institutions remain, they will have more value than the 11 in the Pac-10,' Beebe said. '(Leaving) has to be about other factors. If we hold together, we'll be in as good a position as anyone. 'A number of people in the media are telling me that media-rights sales aren't necessarily like selling widgets. It's like selling paintings. It's what the buyer thinks.' That is what the Big 12 South Division schools may think, but a 15- or 16-team Pac-10, including teams from at least three more metro areas, would include nine of the top 25 TV markets in the country. Dodds said last week that he preferred staying in the Big 12, but if the league began to crumble, he would aggressively explore options. In a statement, Dodds said Friday: 'It is both premature and inappropriate to speculate on what our UT System regents will discuss at next Tuesday's meeting. But, as the dynamics of the Big 12 continue to change around us, we will utilize additional time to continue our work and evaluate our options.' If the departures occur, the Big 12 will be left with six schools. Beebe said with 10, he could add two more schools. He sounded unsure if the Big 12 could remain alive with only six. 'I will still be working for those institutions to determine if they want to continue together in some form or fashion,' Beebe said. 'I plan on going to the final whistle. My intention is keeping all 10 together. I'm going to play it out as hard and fast as I can.' As the teleconference ended, Nebraska began a news conference announcing its departure from the Big 12. Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne has always felt the Big 12 catered to the South Division, but the Big Ten and its new TV network guarantees its members about $22 million each per year. Last year, Nebraska got around $10 million. Osborne felt pressure to keep Nebraska in the Big 12, but found it unsettling that other schools, in particular Missouri, were openly campaigning to move. 'As we read the tea leaves and listened to the conversations, some of the schools that were urging us to stay, we found some of them had talked to not only one other conference or two but even three, and those were the same ones urging us to stay,' he said. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany welcomed the Huskers. 'This is an unbelievable athletic program and legacy and they make us better than what we were before,' he said. The Big Ten now has 12 teams. Delany said he expected to take a 'pause' from any other expansion over the next 12 to 18 months. Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said he had informal discussions with the Big Ten before last week's Big 12 spring meetings. When Beebe issued a Friday deadline to make a commitment to the Big 12, Perlman said, 'it escalated the process.' Perlman said the deal breaker in committing to the Big 12 was that Texas would not agree to assign its broadcast rights to the Big 12 as a whole rather than explore starting its own network. They continued escalating in discussions with the Big Ten. Nebraska will begin Big Ten play with the 2011 football season and the league will likely initiate a championship game. 'Once you make the change,' Osborne said, 'you'd like to do it tomorrow.' The vote among the school's 23 coaches was unanimous. Said football coach Bo Pelini, a former Ohio State player: 'When you get the facts, talk about the money involved and all the things that come along with changing conferences, it was a pretty easy decision as far as putting your hand up.' 