How does it feel? (hint: not good)

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

How does it feel?  How does it feel to be realignment losers two years in a row?  How does it feel to see your team blow their chance at the baseball playoffs?  How does it feel?  We'll explore that and so much more in the links:

(1) If you read nothing else, read this article by OKTC about how Mizzou fans have to fight for their right to be in the SEC.  The article starts where the theory of Big 12 stability starts, with OU's President's statement saying the members schools have agreed to give their 1st and 2nd tier media rights to the Big 12 central offices for 6 years, meaning the teams are tied to the conference and can't leave for that period of time.  Except like most stuff said in the Big 12 these days, it wasn't true.  As the Big 12 President, Deaton, pointed out a few minutes later, the Presidents had agreed TO DISCUSS sharing the rights but hadn't agreed TO SHARE the rights.  That, and the fact Deaton announced his press conference and then OU announced theirs--to start a few minutes before.  In other words: same old Big 12, same old dysfunction.  Says OKTC:

Then another Big 12 official said the league was in "philosophical agreement," but no committments had actually been made.

Philosophical agreement? Is this ancient Greece or the Big 12? You can't even make up these quotes any longer. The Big 12 is officially past the point of satire. The only people celebrating after today? Aggie fans all over Texas are building bonfires and rejoicing, their long Texas nightmare is almost over. These dueling press conferences just proved why the Aggies wanted out so bad.

But you can't say the same for Missouri.  The Tigers have managed to be the biggest loser in conference realignment the past two years.

They continue:


If I was a Missouri fan I'd be furious over this double failure. I'd fight for the SEC. Because the Big Ten isn't calling and at some point the Big 12 is still going to crumble as a major conference. We all know this. So if you're Missouri wouldn't you rather control your own fate rather than sink into the mid-tier abyss of college athletics? Mountain West on line one! 

Put another way, if you'd known the Titanic was going to sink, would you have climbed aboard and risked your chances on hopping on the lifeboats? Or would you maybe have not gotten on the Titanic to begin with? The Big 12 is the Titanic, and the iceberg is Texas. The Big 12 is sinking, the only question is when.

OKTC goes on to make fun of OU for claiming to be a double agent against the Pac-10 on behalf of the Big 12, as they have claimed in recent days.  The money quote: "Seriously, the university said this.
If Oklahoma was a double agent, it's got a lot more in common with Austin Powers than it does James Bond."


(2) Feel some hope that all might not be lost; the KC Star says Mizzou to SEC is still in play.  It was telling that our University President, on a national stage acting as the Big 12 Conference President, didn't firmly commit to Mizzou having a future in the conference. 

(3) T-shirt and sports jackets says that's because Missouri is playing the maverick.  If you read a second article, read this one.  He says of Gary Pinkel: "Pinkel is not all that fun in a press conference. He’s not witty. He’s not gregarious. He’s not charming. But if you need someone to talk straight, he seems like your guy. Those comments mirrored something Pinkel said a few weeks ago. Sounds like he — and thus Missouri — are fed up."

(4) A lot of folks are trying to determine conference expansion winners and losers.  Sam Mellinger says the two winners in this Big 12 mess are Beebe and Frank Haith.  Beebe's getting paid not to deal with it and the more the Big 12 embarrasses itself on the national stage, the less people are talking about Frank Haith.

(5) The Statesman picks the Big 12 as the losers, saying: "The conference is alive. But for how long? When asked if he felt good that no other Big 12 school might leave, Dodds said: "I feel confident. But who do you believe anymore?" Exactly."  That can't make anyone feel too good.

(6) How big of the mess is the Big 12 in?  Well, its future is hinging on a vote to revenue share.  That vote failed last spring.  The future doesn't look that bright.

(7) The past, actually, wasn't that bright either.  This mess started from the beginning of the formation of the Big 12.  Not a surprise, it started with a fight with Texas.  Some interesting stuff in here.

(8) Little Man says we need one voice to lead us out of the mess.  That possible voice is a blast from the past.  That's right, the man in charge of the Big 8 is back and he's pretty much seen it all.  Here's a pretty bland Q&A with the new boss.  

(9) Greg Doyal feel all of this mess is just high school drama. 

(10) You'll need a translator to weed through all of the BS being bantered about.

(11) One thing you won't need a translator for: to realize that the biggest loser in all of this us OU.  They messed with Texas and got beat down.  Contrast that to the Children of the Corn and the Aggies, both of whom made brilliant escapes.  OU has lost all of its bargaining power.  Mizzou know how that feels.

(12) Mizzou Alum Pat Forde was feeling good when he spoke with hope that the Big 12 could regain trust and traction the day after the Pac-12's announcement.  That went out the window with OU's lies last night.

(13) I'm feeling good in knowing that we can celebrate the fact that Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe is gone, something Gary Parrish predicted quite a while ago. EDSBS predicts the Beebes will get a chance to right all his wrongs, Quantum Leap style. 

(14) What's worse than being stuck in the Big 12?  The feeling of being in the Big East.  Rutgers and UConn refused to pledge loyalty to the conference.  With Beebe gone, they now have the worst commish in college sports. 

(15) Who has the best?  The Big 10, who ain't expanding.  So how does that make you feel?  Its SEC or bust. 

(16) Speaking of SEC, these t-shirts and a lot of these fashion nightmares belong to them.

Summary
I'm not buying what the Big 12 is selling and, evidently, neither is Deaton or Mizzou.  Let's hope we don't take a Big 12 deal just to take a deal and let's hope the administration is willing to fight for the SEC if they have to.  The SEC isn't a picnic (just look at the t-shirt link above) and isn't our most desired or best destination, but its a hell of a lot better than incompetence and dysfunction we're currently in.