Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

First, from the Oklahoman, it’s oh [double expletive deleted]:

OU’s sole focus now on joining Pac-12 (well, that headline just exudes optimism)

The Pac-12 preference is to add four schools – OU, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech.

OU president David Boren stepped out of a cloak of secrecy Friday and said the Sooners were being proactive in deciding their conference future, had interest from multiple conferences and expected to make a decision soon, from 72 hours to two weeks.

But it’s Bryan Burell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who’s gone ahead to “Bring out your dead”:

Tick, tick, tick. Two weeks to get your stuff together; two weeks to find three new conference members with some true gravitas who aren’t afraid to walk into a mine field; two weeks to solve the troubling fiscal imbalance that has already caused Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M to bolt over the past 15 months. Two weeks to do what Beebe has consistently been unable to do since this whole thing began unraveling like a cheap suit. Two weeks to live or die. My money is on death, quick, embarrassing and forever. …

Beyond all the very relevant academic credentials that [Missouri] can showcase, among the stragglers left behind — Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State — the Tigers have the most to offer any conference shopping for new members.

And I heard a Fox Sports radio guy slip and say “Pac-16” when talking about Saturday’s games.

The thunderclouds of doom that interrupted the Iowa game today (and Notre Dame, and Michigan) would have been more appropriate hanging over Ames.

When Texas governor and A&M alum Rick Perry was in Iowa recently, he didn’t do much to answer questions asked about A&M’s role in destabilizing the Big 12 Conference. But, as the Boston Globe points out, he may have to:

To fans of other Big 12 schools like Baylor, Texas Tech, and Iowa State, the fear now that the departure of Aggies will cause the Big 12 to implode — and that when the dust settles, their teams may wind up in a second-tier conference. …

Perhaps the most vulnerable member of the Big 12 if it breaks up is Iowa State. … Further, Iowa State’s fan base is concentrated in the more conservative western third of the state, where, incidentally, there are also a disproportionate number of GOP caucusgoers. …

In these vast stretches of rural Iowa, Iowa State sports, be it football, basketball, or wrestling, is the only show in town. But while Western Iowa may be devoted to Iowa State, it’s not exactly considered a promising market or exciting television for the rapacious athletic conferences that will feed off the remnants of the Big 12.

The Globe is a little off on its perceptions. I think at best, western Iowa is divided into thirds between the Huskers, Hawkeyes, and Cyclones, and the Omaha media market plays into that. And I don’t think there’s anywhere, even Ames, where Iowa State is the only show in town; you can’t drive too far on any Iowa road without seeing a Hawkeye flag flying.

Maybe Iowa State’s presence in a BCS conference should replace ethanol subsidies as the alleged litmus test for Republican candidates. But maybe instability will stay in the background as long as there aren’t any other…

University of Oklahoma president David Boren says multiple conferences have shown interest in the Sooners recently and he expects to decide whether to leave the Big 12 or not within the next three weeks.

Oh [expletive deleted].

Here’s what they’re saying about Iowa State this time around:

Starting with the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Mike Hlas, who lays it out in no uncertain terms (read the whole thing):

If the first of the inevitable four superconferences should involve the breakup of the Big 12, Iowa State is in severe trouble. … [If] there’s no Big 12 next year and the Big East maybe just scoops up Kansas for even more basketball prestige? Then Iowa State is left scrounging for membership in a league such as the Mountain West or Conference USA.

The Oklahoman, on the position of T. Boone Pickens Oklahoma State:

For OSU, the Pickens-made-possible ascension in football puts the Cowboys on the radar in terms of appeal and relevance — a status that didn’t exist even five years ago, before the Stillwater version of the Pickens Plan was complete.

Ten years ago, before Pickens penned his first big check to OSU athletics, the Cowboys weren’t much more thought of than Iowa State.

All that has changed.

Houston Chronicle:

SMU, Houston and TCU are the three schools that ought to be invited, but Texas fears all three. All have rebuilt their programs, and all three would cut into Texas’ recruiting. The Big 12 is a Texas production, and with schools like Baylor and Iowa State desperate for the affiliation, the conference will live a bit longer even in a diminished state.

Topeka Capital-Journal:

Why Notre Dame wouldn’t fit in the Big 12: “Hard to see the Fighting Irish making that road trip to Ames.”

(And why SMU wouldn’t fit: “They’re SMU.”)

Blogger at the Kansas City Star:

At this point, nobody can foresee how it will play out. One would presume Texas, Oklahoma and OSU would remain together in some form or fashion. And, certainly KU and KSU would be happy to feast on the crumbs that fall from their table. So would Iowa State, but the more strung out the conference gets, the better the odds the Cyclones are going to end up elsewhere devoid of any other B12 schools. Can the Missouri Valley be far away?

The Missouri Valley. UNI’s conference. About 13,000 people a game. Now that is a vote of no confidence.

Texas offered a Big 12 Network; Texas A&M refused. Texas reportedly offered a Lone Star Network; A&M refused. Texas created the Longhorn Network, just like everyone expected, and now A&M has gone off the deep end. Austin American-Statesman:

Texas A&M notified the Big 12 conference Wednesday morning that it is seeking league membership elsewhere.

President R. Bowen Loftin sent a letter to commissioner Dan Beebe to alert him of the school’s decision. Once the school finds another league – it’ll be the Southeastern Conference – the Aggies will cut their Big 12 membership June, 30, 2012. …

The move by the Aggies, which is not unexpected, could cause a monumental shift in the college football landscape if the Big 12 fails to come up with an adequate replacement team. The Big 12, which started competition in 1996, could implode, allowing its marquee teams like Texas and Oklahoma to be free agents to align with other top conferences.

A 13-team SEC would have to be looking to poach another team from somewhere else, potentially setting off a chain reaction. And if there is a game of musical chairs, Iowa State isn’t going to have one.

Jamie Pollard is being, um, nonchalant: “It is unfortunate that Texas A&M is moving forward with plans to depart the Big 12.”

“Unfortunate.” Can we panic now?

Desktop pictures for Texas A&M’s 2011 football schedule put the opponents’ logos in a strip across the bottom. (Full collection is here.)

Take a quick look at this one in particular. Is A&M playing the Cyclones twice? Now look closer. Trimming out the games in between, we get this:

Now, Idaho and Iowa State references don’t usually appear in the same place at the same time. (Except for Nebraska’s schedule last year, oddly enough.) But when those logos are in close proximity to each other, and the color is washed out, it may take a second to tell them apart.

And Idaho was first by a long shot.

(Also of note: Of A&M’s 12 games, only three will be played outside the state of Texas, in Ames, Norman, and Manhattan.)