The views from here:
n Last week, I prepared you for a new round of Big 12 expansion talk. This week, it's arrived.
League commissioner Bob Bowlsby spoke to media members on-site at meetings in Phoenix and said consultants' preliminary data says expansion is the way to go.
Analytics firm Navigate Research apparently suggested adding two schools would improve the Big 12's chances of making the College Football Playoff each year by 4 to 5 percent. (When a request was made for a copy of the data, league representative Bob Burda said it is "not available.") Also, the Cincinnati Enquirer says seven of 10 schools are on board with expansion, but league bylaws call for 75 percent approval, so another yea is necessary. (WVU is one of the seven in favor.)
Now, in the past, we've gone over some of the background, school candidates and why the league seems destined to expand. What I haven't unveiled is an opinion, so let's change that.
It's kind of sad that those within feel compelled to expand to increase CFP odds 4 or 5 percent.
It goes without saying that conference alignment these days is nonsensical. Instead of regional conferences and sectional divisions, leagues are spread out and mostly connected for financial reasons. Within the craziness, though, one current Power 5 conference setup has each school playing every other school: the Big 12. Win every football game in league play and, hey, you're the champ. Clear-cut.
Expansion will wipe that out. Yes, WVU might have closer opponents. Yes, there might be more variety to the schedules. Yes, the league will become more stable. Yes, the conference will actually be accurately described by its name.
But the Big 12's round-robin play was the last shred of sanity left in college athletics' craziness. If expansion is approved, that will be missed.
n In case you missed the news, invitations went out to players for the upcoming NBA Combine in Chicago. Former WVU big man Devin Williams, who signed with an agent and forfeited his last season of college eligibility, did not make the cut. He did not even make the alternate list, which includes names like standouts Yogi Ferrell and Fred VanVleet.
Big 12 players Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins of Oklahoma, Cheick Diallo, Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis of Kansas, Georges Niang of Iowa State and Taurean Prince of Baylor were invited and Texas' Prince Ibeh is an alternate.
If nothing changes, it's a blow to the bow of Williams' long-shot hopes of making an NBA roster. It's almost a given a player needs to make the Combine to have a real chance.
On Tuesday, however, Williams appeared on Charleston's 950 WBES "Brandon Lowe Show" and explained his decision.
"This process started before I got [to WVU]," Williams said. "Everybody has aspirations of playing in the NBA or whatever, just being a professional. Having a chance to play down at Montverde Academy in Orlando, Florida, with DeAngelo Russell and Ben Simmons and Dakari Johnson and Kasey Hill before being at West Virginia gave me the confidence I could play with some of the best players in the world.
"I just think of what I've done the last three years. I've progressed. I just think it was a timing thing for me. It's just something I want to do and I'm willing to go hard to pursue."
Later, he remarked that it's difficult "to let go [of his WVU career] when I do have another year when I could have shined more and just helped impact the [WVU] program. But for the most part it's just something I wanted to do."
Williams said he was getting up at 7 each morning and working out three times a day. He said he has a workout Thursday for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And if the NBA doesn't work out?
"My aspirations are to be in the NBA," Williams said. "In making my decision to go to West Virginia or Ohio State, the conversation was about longevity and to put myself in a good situation. ... I'm not thinking as much about Plan B."
He added he believes he "can be an NBA player" but did say if he had to go overseas to play professionally "so be it."
A message, by the way, went out to Williams' agent on Tuesday, but there was no response as of press time.
n While on the subject on drafts, I've enjoyed watching fans debate WVU's success in the recent NFL draft. One side boasts the Mountaineers have produced so much talent. One side wonders why all that talent could only reach a Cactus Bowl.
Methinks all that talent and more is needed to win the aforementioned conference.
n In Tuesday's column, I mentioned WVU's beer (and wine) sales at football games have hit $2.88 million over five seasons.
Mountaineer associate AD Michael Szul was kind enough to provide the breakdown: $516,000 in 2011; $632,000 in 2012; $526,000 in 2013; $580,00 in 2014; and $626,000 last season. Understand that the numbers were rounded off and the school had seven home games in 2011, '12 and '15.
Somewhere The Most Interesting Man in the World is smiling.
n In a talk with Marshall AD Mike Hamrick, I asked about upcoming projects.
"The elephant in the room is a baseball facility," he said.
Hamrick explained playing in Charleston is a "good situation" and the team enjoys playing in Beckley. But, yes, he's on the project.
"The question with that, though, is where do we put [a facility]?" he said. "We're land-locked."
He said raising funds isn't the problem, which prompted me to ask how much they've scoured for property. Check what was included in his response.
"There are options, but not really," Hamrick said. "I know our fans get tired of hearing that. Would baseball draw in Huntington? I don't know if it would or not.
"Also, a lot of the property around here is 'dirty.' In other words, you'd have to go in and environmentally clean it up. That would cost a fortune. But it's something we need to do."
Perhaps the school needs its own baseball facility for the sake of pride, but it very much sounds like Hamrick isn't convinced the return would be worth the cost.
n And finally . . .
Some may have been surprised when Tampa Bay traded up in the NFL draft to take Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo in the second round with the 59th overall pick. The Bucs gave up their third-round pick and one of their two fourth-round picks to Kansas City to jump up and grab Aguayo.
It wasn't all that surprising, though, considering the NFL's new rules. Extra points are now kicked from the 15-yard line (a 33-yard boot). Also, and perhaps more importantly, yardage given from touchbacks has gone from 20 to 25 yards.
Word is, special-teams coordinators are adopting a strategy of trying to pin returners deep - within a yard or two of the goal line - rather than simply give up the entire 25 yards. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher reportedly asked Aguayo to do that on 70 percent of his kicks and the kicker became quite proficient at the skill.
Aguayo, by the way, was the highest-rated kicker in a draft since Ohio State's Mike Nugent, who was taken in the second round (47th overall) by the New York Jets in 2005.
If you're a Marshall fan that remembers Nugent from 2004, well, forgive the reference.