• Texas Stays Home
• Dan Beebe Teleconference
• Twitter Hackers' Fake Report
• Where Things Stand
• Texas-Sized TV Network?
• Pac-10 Not Empty-Handed
• Big East to Stand Pat
• Nebraska Joins Big Ten
• Colorado to Pac-10
• Boise State to Mountain West
• Lapointe: Tradition Loses
• Moore: NU Shucks Tradition
Just when it appeared the landscape of college athletics would be drastically altered, the Texas Longhorns decided to stay put in the Big 12. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M followed suit. Meanwhile, the Big 12 announced its plans to decline plucking teams from other conferences and just move forward 10-strong.
In the answer to the question posed in the headline above, I'd say we're very close to being done. Consider:
• The Big Ten has a round number of teams at 12 and can set up two six-team divisions and play a conference championship game. As long as Notre Dame isn't pressured into joining a conference -- and it looks like that won't happen anytime soon -- the Big Ten will likely stand pat at 12.
• The SEC didn't get Texas A&M, so it likely won't bother to move past 12 teams.
• The ACC isn't going to grab anyone.
• The Mountain West already grabbed Boise State and now won't have access to attractive schools from the defunct Big 12, as the league survived. And with Boise, the MWC has an even number of teams (10). So it is probably done.
• The Big East already stated it wasn't going to do anything unless the Big 12 fell apart or it lost a team. Neither happened, so it will stand pat.
• Conference USA, the MAC and Sun Belt were untouched in any discussions and there's no reason to think something will change now.
• The Pac-10 doesn't get Oklahoma or Texas and, in turn, lost out on other attractive schools in a potential Big 12 raid. Considering it did add Colorado, though, it's likely the Pac-10 still needs to add one more team to get to that magic "12" number the power conferences are all shooting for. Which means we probably aren't totally done seeing conference shifting. Expect the Pac-10 to make a run at Utah. When it does land the Utes -- and I fully expect them to jump at the chance -- expect the Mountain West to either be satisfied with nine (as it had before the Boise State addition) or grab another WAC team (Nevada? Utah State? Fresno State?). And that's about all the movement we're going to see in the next few years. Update, 6/17: Utah has joined the Pac-10 and the Mountain West has announced it will stick with nine members. Thus, I believe we're done with the conference shuffling for the summer and can start focusing on the upcoming season.
So, what once looked like a gigantic tidal wave is likely to end up merely a ripple. There's still plenty of time for things to change, but it would appear the grandiose unraveling and realigning of conferences speculated by many was quite off the mark. At least for this summer.
Eric Holder Personally Approved Controversial Fox News Warrant
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
Senate Confirms Key Obama Nominee As Filibuster Fight Looms
Warren's First Bill Already Seeing Strong Wave Of Support
'Well That Was Actually Pointless'
Emergency Landing Prompts Closure Of Heathrow Runways
McCain: We Should Only Have To Pay For Cable Channels We Watch
Sequestration Hits National Parks Just In Time For Tourist Season
Anti-Abortion Leader Compares Rape And Incest To Accidents
Polls Show How Americans Targeting Ire Over Gun Checks
NOAA Releases 2013 Hurricane Season Predictions
Horror In Bethesda
Steve King Points Finger At Reagan For Helping Obama Get Elected
Bill O'Reilly: 'I'm The Fairest Guy On The Planet'
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
McDonald's Quietly Offers Ohio Hero Free Food For Year
This Major Stock Collapse Is A Serious Warning For The U.S.
Tom Coburn Ratchets Down Opposition To Tornado Relief Bill
Powerful Earthquake Hits Russia's Far East
Senate GOP At Odds With Tea Party On Budget Negotiations
Farm State Senator Defends 'Monsanto Protection Act'
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
U.S. Drone Guidelines Could Reduce 'Signature Strikes'
Newtown Gets Major Gift From The Government
Obama, Chris Christie To Reunite
Guantanamo Prisoners Watch Obama Speech
Elite Colleges Accused Of Mishandling Sexual Assaults
Boy Scouts To Allow Gay Youths
Could Miscarriages Become Criminal?
Ex-Student Allegedly Planned 'Columbine-Style' Attack At School
