Remember when all we had to do was worry about whether or not Villanova was going to build a big enough jungle gym in order to play football with the rest of us? Those were nice days.
Conferecepocalpyse II is on the verge of happening and once again the Big East seems to be playing the waiting game in order to find out what the conference looks like, or won't look like, in the year's ahead.
We know Texas A&M is leaving the Big 12 and will, at some point, join the SEC. When that happens, the SEC will take on a 14th team, causing the dominoes to fall. As for who that team is, let's table that discussion for the moment.
What's more pressing is what'll happen to the Big 12 if and when those dominoes fall. While I'm sure Dan Beebe is clinging to the idea of bringing in Notre Dame, Arkansas and even Pitt, that ain't happening anytime soon. Especially when his entire conference seems to be making proactive moves to leave.
Oklahoma is apparently already talking to the Pac-12. If the Sooners go, so does Oklahoma State (When T. Boone says it's over, it's over).
Texas may go with them or could just go independent with their fancy new TV network no one can watch. If they did go Pac-12 (16), then Texas Tech would likely go with them.
That leaves Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, Baylor with their pants down.
Enter the Big East, who has already put those feelers from the last go-round back out there, according to Thamel.
A high-ranking college official did say Sunday that the Big East had reached out to multiple Big 12 universities and indicated, much as it did during the Texas-Pac-12 expansion talks last year, that the league would be interested in taking the universities if the Big 12 fell apart. The official said the Big East was not rooting for the demise of the Big 12, but opened up lines of communication in case it dissolved.
That's not too shocking. We know the Big East reached out to Kansas, KSU, Missou and Iowa State last time. Whether or not all four are part of this current reach-around...no idea. I would think Kansas and Missou are the most likely, though KSU probably comes as a package deal with Kansas.
Meanwhile, who's to say someone else won't pilfer the Big East before all of this? We know the SEC will need a 14th and there are rumors West Virginia could be that team. Even if they're not and the SEC grabs an ACC team instead, that could set the ACC in motion for expansion to replace them and/or grow.
Going back to the Mountaineers for a second, you gotta love WVU AD Oliver Luck. Just in case you were wondering if the Big East football schools were a solid bunch or were about be eight schools trying to get on the last raft off the Titanic...
When the discussion turned to what WVU brings to the table, Luck seemed to take a issue with those who feel WVU doesn’t possess an adequate population to be a real asset from the standpoint of TV markets. First he quite gleefully threw major media marketer Rutgers under the bus, pointing out that their athletic department lost $17 million even AFTER their share of TV money (approximately $6 mil).
DOC Gross better get his financials and TV markets in order, just in case.
As usual, we sit back and we wait. Texas A&M is expected to become an official member of the SEC on Tuesday or Wednesday and at that point, the real fun begins.