When the Big 12 Conference bigwigs sat down to figure out which Big East team to recruit as its 10th member, pending the expected departure of Missouri to the SEC, the decision came down to West Virginia and U of L.
And it looks like the Mountaineers will be scheduling Oklahoma, Texas and the rest of the Big 12 schools. The New York Times is reporting today that the deal is done, and that what’s left is a 5-team Big East — with Cincinnati, south Florida, Connecticut and Rutgers joining U of L. And the Times story indicates that the Big 12 will stick to 10 members, eliminating any hopes that the Cards will get an invite this year.
If the Big 12 did choose between West Virginia and U of L, locals may wonder how we could lose to a school with a smaller TV market and perhaps a weaker overall athletics program. How could Tom Jurich let this happen? Rumors abound, but West Virginia could be a better fit because it has a stronger football tradition, and academic reputation could have entered into it. That’s a question Jurich will have to address.
So U of L’s worst-case scenario appears to be coming true. The league is reportedly negotiating to add a number of schools in hopes of retaining its Bowl Championship Series status in football. Those schools reported by the Times to be on the list are Navy, Air Force and Boise State in football, along with Houston, Central Florida and SMU. Other schools in the mix are Temple, Memphis and East Carolina. But the league needs to move NOW, before something worse happens.
None of this is certain. Missouri hasn’t yet gone to the SEC, and West Virginia is still in the Big East. But the dominoes are ready to fall, and it’s not good news for U of L.
