If you’re a fan of college football — and even if you’re not — it’s hard to stay away from all this realignment chatter.
It’s like UIL realignment on steroids.
Only difference is there are a lot more power players involved than just a few people deciding who goes where for the next two years.
Unlike UIL realignment, this will change the face of college sports for several years to come and put a bigger gap between the haves and the have-nots.
The impending college realignment reminds me of a scene from a mob movie where everyone puts their gun on the table and waits to see who pulls the trigger first.
The fuel behind these talks is lucrative television contracts, which makes it hard to get a clear picture as to what’s about to happen because there are so many players involved.
Notre Dame could have the most power as it ponders staying with tradition and remaining an independent or joining the Big 10 Conference.
Notre Dame is the only individual college to have its own television contract, which runs through 2015 and is worth $9 million. I am not sure how joining the Big 10 could benefit Notre Dame.
If Notre Dame joins the Big 10 or not, it could potentially affect whether or not Big XII members Missouri and Nebraska join the Big 10 as well.
Missouri and Nebraska, which where two of the big players when this conference realignment talk began, control the fate of the Big XII.
That was until the Pac 10 came knocking on Texas’ door.
Texas surely should be considered as one of the power players.
Texas, which was one of six Big XII schools reportedly being lured by the Pac 10 Conference, could start the domino effect if it and Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado/Baylor accept invites by the Pac 10.
It’s been reported that the Pac 10 has either offered or intends to offer Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado membership invites.
Texas legislatures are lobbying for Baylor, not Colorado, to be included in any invites made to Texas schools.
Big XII commissioner Dan Beebe is kind of like John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Beebe is being forced to sit back and watch as his conference either implodes or sticks together based on moves made by other conferences.
It’s almost completely out of his control as money — lots of it — and lucrative TV contracts are waiting for colleges that are seeing less and less state funding for athletics.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday that the Big XII has given a June 17 deadline to Missouri and Nebraska to declare their loyalty.
The Mountain West Conference, which is circling around the Big XII like a pair of vultures, stands to gain the most from this cat and mouse game being played by the Big 10 and Pac 10 with the Big XII.
Hopefully, this picture will become a lot clearer over the next few weeks as Missouri and Nebraska deadlines quickly approach.