St. Louis ? They have spent the better part of a year and a half fighting off the ropes, challenged from all sides in this ongoing saga of college sports hostile takeovers.
But now the commissioners of the Big 12, Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences — also known as The Buffet Table — are going to try something that until now no one else apparently has considered.
They’re going to act like considerate gentlemen.
On Tuesday, Big East commissioner John Marinatto told The Associated Press that he, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and ACC boss John Swofford have actually decided to talk to each other about all the craziness that is sure to happen now that the newest rounds of college conference cannibalism seem to be starting.
Marinatto didn’t say what they have been talking about lately, but we all have a pretty good idea it has something to do with how they plan to react when the Southeastern Conference decides it wants to go on an expansion feeding frenzy much like the Pac-10 and Big Ten did last year.
“I thought it would be important for us to meet face-to-face and take the lead in trying to do things the right way,” Marinatto said.
Well, well, well, it seems that someone out there actually wants to act with some integrity.
How did that happen?
A year ago, when the Big Ten and Pac-10 decided to expand, Beebe’s conference — which includes Missouri — almost was destroyed. And as the wild speculation ensued that the major college landscape was about to turn into three super conferences, it became clear that the Big 12, ACC and Big East weren’t going to be doing the feasting. They were going to be the buffet line.
And now that the SEC has set its sights on Texas A&M, and might end up looking to go after one or more teams from the ACC or Big East, the commissioners from those leagues are doing the smart thing by getting together to discuss what they all need to do next — because one of the obvious next steps for all them is to fight back and try to expand too.
And I’ll be honest with you. Even as I write about how refreshing it would be to see business conducted in a more honorable fashion, it wouldn’t bother me so much if Beebe stuffed a big napkin under his chin and started scanning the table to see what schools he could lure and what conferences are vulnerable to plunder.
And the one league that seems to be the most vulnerable is Marinatto’s Big East. There are informed sources familiar with the Big 12 who are certain that it has its eyes on Notre Dame, which is an independent in football but a member of the Big East in basketball.
If A&M departs, as most believe it will, aggressively pursuing a big name such as Notre Dame would be a stroke of genius.
If you want to send a strong message that you will no longer be the weakling on the block, going after Notre Dame is the sort of move that will create that impression emphatically. Is it realistic to think that the Big 12 can lure Notre Dame into a football conference when it has resisted doing so during its entire sports history? I don’t know. But I think it sure is worth trying.
This is the way the Big 12 has to act now. Boldly. Aggressively.
And if it’s not successful in recruiting the Irish, then Louisville or Cincinnati would certainly make sense, as well.
But for the first time in ages, there seems to be an air of sanity blowing across the landscape.
If the commissioners such as Beebe, Swofford and Marinatto can get together and work things out with a little class and dignity — even if they are discussing how to cut up the carcass — why can’t the rest of the powers that be in college athletics follow suit?
