KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 just turned over a 6 of clubs and a 7 of hearts. Now what?
Stand? Or hit?
Hold 'em? Fold 'em? Walk away? Run?
"We are happy and satisfied with 10," acting commissioner Chuck Neinas said early Wednesday evening, as the first day of the league's 2012 spring meetings drew to a close. "And we have not reached out to Florida State."
What about Notre Dame?
"Nowhere," Neinas said.
Clemson? Fine. Never mind. We get the hint.
"We like where we are," Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said. "And we don't have any reason right now to think about any other option. And to make sure what we have works to its fullest potential, and then go from there."
And that's that. Or is it?
"To me, the most important benchmark is whatever we do, it has to strengthen our long-term stability," Castiglione said. "And if there's something that we can consider down the road that reflects that benchmark, then it would be in our best interest to do so."
Big 12 officials swore, to a man, that expansion hasn't been discussed formally since a gathering in Phoenix in April. Of course, these are spring meetings, not grand jury testimony. Veteran scribes recalled former commissioner Dan Beebe's infamous dash for the elevator at this same InterContinental Hotel two years earlier, as well as the time ex-Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne went out of his way to give the media a rousing rah-rah-Big-12 pep talk. Those Aggies roll with the SEC now. Byrne's retired. Things change.
"We'll deal with what we know," Castiglione said. "Not the hypotheticals."
We know this much: The Big 12, like the rest of college football's heavyweights, are in a bit of a holding pattern until they see how the new championship playoff model shakes out. Which means that benchmark Castiglione referred to could change as soon as the end of next month.
Big 12 athletic directors affirmed that they're on board with the playoff model favored by SEC commissioner Mike Slive: The four best teams, regardless of conference affiliation, make the championship field. If the SEC's plan gets the green light — the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and other leagues are opposed, preferring those slots to be reserved for conference champions — then it lessens the competitive impetus for the return of a Big 12 title game.
The 2009 Big 12 championship reportedly racked up $5.4 million in ticket sales. Money talks, but you also don't want to eliminate your best team from the field before the fact, the way that Kansas State's infamous 1998 upset loss to Texas A&M sent the Wildcats tumbling from the BCS championship game all the way down to the Alamo Bowl. Texas (2001), Oklahoma (2003) and Missouri (2007) also got bumped from a potential title tussle because of a loss in the Big 12 title game.
"In my mind, I think the four best teams (in a playoff) have to be the four best teams (in the country)," West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck allowed. "That's the American way."
Even though the old BCS system gave the Big East champion a seat at the table — and slotted West Virginia into the 2012 Orange Bowl, where the Mountaineers dropped 70 on Clemson — Luck wasn't sure that conference champs were a viable option for a four-team bracket.
"So I think our experience," Luck said, "is one that I think that a lot of college football folks now believe, 'You know, boy, that really probably shouldn't happen when you have so many other quality programs ranked in the top 10, or 12, or 15, or whatever it may be.' "
Neinas and the athletic directors also like the idea of a selection committee picking the field, as opposed to relying strictly on the mercy of computer rankings. Then again, which entity do you think fans trust less: Committees or computers?
"That's an impossible question," Castiglione said.
Get ready, Joe. There are more where that came from.
Other highlights from Day 1 included:
• The moment a writer with the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat asked Luck and Texas Christian athletic director Chris Del Conte if he was wasting his time coming all the way up to Kansas City to chase Florida State rumors. The two administrators, who'd declined to discuss the myriad of expansion hypotheticals, smiled at that.
"Depends on what else you're doing here in Kansas City," Luck quipped. "If you got some good barbecue, there (are) some other things that might be time well-spent."
• Del Conte clarifying himself, again. The TCU administrator became a minor Internet sensation last week when he made comments about Big 12 expansion to a breakfast club and to a Lubbock radio station that were construed as confirmation that the additions of Florida State, Clemson and Miami (Fla.) might be imminent.
"But I can tell you, coming in today, (the camaraderie in the league is) unbelievable," Del Conte said Wednesday. "That's what I was addressing a week ago. That (story) went craaaazy."
"He calls it 'The Lubbock Ambush,' " Luck interjected.
• Affirmation that West Virginia plans to keep selling alcohol at home games, even as a member of the Big 12. Luck said the school netted almost $750,000 through sales and increased sponsorships from breweries, and that local police were on board throughout.
"Financially," Luck continued, "it's been a plus for us."
• Iowa State's Jamie Pollard, chairman of the conference's athletic directors, insisting that being inactive on the expansion front was also, um, proactive.
"I think we're positioned in a way that we've got all the iterations covered and can act accordingly if we need to," he said. "But we think, right now, the way it's turning out, we're the ones left standing."
"Bigger," Neinas added, "is not necessarily better."
And yet, a reporter felt compelled to ask: What if Notre Dame were the one calling you?
"We'd accept the call," Neinas replied.
Then he smiled. Deviously. As a wise man once said, there'll be time enough for counting — when the dealing's done.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter @seankeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com
