Texas House leaders Friday called for a Wednesday morning hearing concerning the possible breakup of the Big 12 Conference.

Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, announced House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and state Rep. Dan Branch, who chairs the Higher Education Committee, had called the hearing.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, urged legislative leaders to schedule hearings earlier this week.

“This gives the people of Texas an opportunity to be represented on this very important issue,” Anderson said, noting the economic impact the conference has on the state.

Baylor University, Waco officials and Edwards have been urging legislative leaders to take a more direct role in the discussions of the Big 12’s other Texas schools — the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University.

However, regents at both Texas and Tech have announced meetings Tuesday, and any conference decisions out of such meetings could potentially render the House hearing an afterthought.

“I know (the hearing’s) been set, and I hope it’s been set so we can provide a real open debate and not just to provide cover after the universities’ meetings on Tuesday,” said State Rep. Jim Dunnam, a Waco Democrat and Baylor alumnus.

Branch, who will lead the hearings, went to Oklahoma Christian University for undergrad and got his law degree at Southern Methodist University.

The eight other members include three UT graduates, one Baylor grad in Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, but no alums of either A&M or Tech. The committee also includes recently elected State Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, who unsuccessfully ran for Edwards’ U.S. House seat in 2006 while living in West.

Perry, White quiet

In other Big 12 news, political experts disagreed about whether Democrat candidate Bill White has thus far missed an opportunity to criticize Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to publicly distance himself from Big 12 school negotiations.

Baylor officials, alums and boosters have urged state leaders to take a bigger role in the process, and Waco business leaders have sounded alarms about the threat to the local economy if conference rivalries with the three other state schools and the tourism dollars they bring disappear.

On Thursday night, White wrote on his Facebook page that he missed the old Southwest Conference — which featured Baylor, Texas, A&M, Tech, Houston, Rice, Texas Christian, SMU and Arkansas.

White attended Harvard University and the Texas School of Law.

Perry, a Texas A&M graduate, has said he shares the fondness for the Texas-centric conference, which broke up in 1994.

In White’s Facebook post he also expressed his displeasure with the idea of “Texas schools becom(ing) a small minority in a big conference,” like the Pac-10, but he avoided directly attacking Perry on the issue.

Jason Stanford, an Austin-based Democratic political strategist, said, “I think Rick Perry’s lack of leadership provides a real opening for Bill White.”

“There’s no reason the Texas schools can’t pull together some replacements for the Big 12 and create a super Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas league,” Stanford said, noting efforts could be made to bring in TCU, SMU, Houston and Rice.

“There are two major metropolitan areas and one smaller one that are probably going to get left out with the fallout of the Big 12 and right now Rick Perry’s,” staying out of it, Stanford said.

So “regardless of whether or not this happens, this would show Bill White helping Waco, Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas,” he said.

SMU political scientist Cal Jillson suggested that as tempting as making an issue out of the conference talks might be for the White campaign, it could also be risky.

“I think eggheads ought to best stay out of sports,” Jillson said. “I just don’t think this is in White’s wheelhouse.

“He’d do better to focus on education and health care rather than trying three-corner bank shots on where Baylor ought to go.”

Stanford said that it wasn’t so much an aversion to risk but a determination on the part of the White campaign to stick to a set strategy.

“It’s difficult when running a campaign to react to changing events well, but there’s a real benefit to a campaign that can take advantage to events as they unfold,” he said.

“You go to the 7-Eleven and people probably don’t really care about Perry’s rented mansion,” Stanford said — referring to a $10,000 rental mansion Perry has been living in while the official governor’s mansion undergoes repairs. “But everyone cares about college football in Texas.”

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