Football Armageddon III: Larry Scott Saves The Day

Kids, the merry-go-round of college realignment seems to be coming to a halt- at least for now. The Pac-12 has backed off expansion saying it's good at 12 schools (reportedly after Texas didn't want to play ball on equal revenue sharing with their ridiculous Longhorn Network.) Oklahoma, (happily for the Big 12 Orphans, anyway) has made it clear it's displeased with the current state of affairs and things are done gonna have to change if they're going to stick around the Big 12.

Out east, the Big East schools met, looked each other in the eyes and apparently liked what they saw, because they're staying put- West Virginia had reportedly asked the ACC and SEC about joining and had been turned down by both, however UCONN has made it clear it's waiting for an invite to the ACC- whether that's forthcoming or not isn't clear at this point. But, the Big East announced targets for expansion- namely the service academies- Army, Navy and Air Force with Central Florida and East Carolina also on the list. (I think Air Force is more likely for the Big 12 or staying where it is- East Carolina could be interesting though.)

So the Big 12 survives- but there's trouble in the Oklahoma-Texas marriage that will have to be ironed out. It looks like Commish Dan Beebe will get the old heave-ho and Texas will probably have to make some ironclad concessions on it's ridiculous television network and happily, it looks like there's going to be an aggressive move to get the Big 12 back to 12 again, which is what should have happened last year as soon as Nebraska and Colorado left.

I think we might be good for a year now. Once the dust settles, I think the Big 12 lets A&M go to the SEC and starts shopping around- but the nagging question remains- will the SEC stay at 13 schools? They might be willing to do so for one season, but sooner or later they'll be back at it. With exit fees from the ACC now topping $20 million and a distinct disinterest in West Virginia, the logical choice for the SEC would be Mizzou. So stay tuned, I guess...