I GUESS it's inevitable in this age of college athletics.
We settle in for a few years of relative tranquility, when we can deal with routine matters such as whether an athlete's verbal commitment is "hard" or "soft," or what mischief Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is plotting.
But here we are in what should be a quiet month of May, sliding back into the abyss of conference realignment. It's one of the top scourges of the 21st century, somewhere between National Signing Day and Donald Trump.
Thanks for everything, Big 12.
My Gazette-Mail colleagues can tell it better, but it seems that 10-team circuit is feeling squeamish about its position in the College Football Playoff system and is looking for reinforcements. (Perhaps if Texas hadn't somehow turned into Texas A&M's lil' bro, we'd be discussing something else.)
That league, granted an opportunity to hold an exempt conference championship game at 10 teams, is looking for a better chance, however small, to make the CFP foursome every year.
I don't know. I've long wondered if giving teams a one-in-10 shot at a conference title (other factors equal) instead of one-in-12 isn't a better way to go. One-in-eight worked well for West Virginia back in the Bowl Championship Series days, right?
But if the Big 12 must expand, it should take Cincinnati in deference and thanks to WVU, and then should make a run at Brigham Young. Cincy's new-look Nippert Stadium is a hit, I am told, and BYU's fan base is the largest and most engaged of the candidates.
I just need WVU president E. Gordon Gee to talk a little smack about a few candidates, just as he did when he was at Ohio State. As the Big Ten was expanding in 2013, The Bowtie dropped this one:
"I think the presidents of the institutions are very clear that their number one criteria is to make sure that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity. So you won't see us adding Louisville ... or the University of Kentucky."
I won't repeat his comments on Notre Dame. The next day I drove through Ohio, where sports radio had way too much fun with it.
Anyway, this affects the American Athletic Conference. And if the AAC needs a pick-me-up, it will cast another long look at Conference USA.
If you're reading this, you know the next question: Is Marshall ready?
Judging the school purely on its merits, maybe.
MU will never have a Connecticut budget ($72 million in revenue at last glance) and would struggle to stay in the middle of the pack in basketball. If baseball carries any relevance, MU with its lack of a ballpark is disqualified.
But judging MU against the rest of the field, the picture is a lot better than it was back in 2011. Donors have stepped up to build some very useful facilities, including an indoor practice building that's better than most in the land, much less C-USA.
The fan base may draw grumbles here, but the Thundering Herd has averaged 25,000-plus in the six-year Doc Holliday regime. If the Herd played in a 26,000-seat stadium, everybody would be giddy.
Marshall trailed only Southern Mississippi in C-USA attendance last year. Southern Miss has a nearly identical situation, a fiercely loyal following that's a bit too small for a mid-30K stadium. The program has good history and the team is rebounding.
As I understand it, Louisiana Tech is about the same way, though with smaller crowd numbers. I am impressed with Western Kentucky, but the attendance is still sub-20,000 at the Hilltoppers' small stadium.
Sleep on Old Dominion at your peril. Its $42.7 million budget is the highest in C-USA by an eight-figure margin, the basketball arena is widely acclaimed and the infant football program is 7-9 in conference play. The Monarchs have sold out all 41 games at 20,118-seat stadium and has carved a niche in a metro area of 1.7 million.
That Fairfield Stadium-like dungeon will be replaced; it's a question of when, where and how much the capacity will initially increase. (It could be 25,000 seats on the current stadium site, both mistakes in this outsider's view.)
Texas-San Antonio, whose infant football program is regrouping under new coach Frank Wilson, has a credible fan base and a large market, and can offer an in-state rival for Houston. Basketball is horrific, though.
I guess I must mention Massachusetts because somebody else will. This would be an insult to the aforementioned candidates, much as the Pseudo-Big East taking Tulane was in 2011.
The Minutemen are taking their first steps as a major-college independent after four seasons in the Mid-American Conference. Even with Blake Frohnapfel behind center for two seasons, they went 7-25 in MAC play and drew 11,124 last season.
At least they have an interesting basketball program. Wait: They were 14-18, 6-12 in Atlantic 10 last year.
So there's your field. A final reminder: Only one of those schools have won double-digit football games in each of the last three seasons.
Time for MU athletic director Mike Hamrick and friends to get busy.