Halloween is fast approaching.
The Big 12 news out of Dallas on Monday, however, felt more like April Fools' Day. At least, I'd imagine, to the 11 candidates still hoping for an invitation to the Big 12.
By all accounts, almost all the league presidents and chancellors quietly left a meeting on the topic of expansion when a decision to stay at 10 schools was reached Monday afternoon. Reports had it that no super majority (a vote of eight of 10 schools) could be mustered for any of the candidates, but Oklahoma president Dave Boren, who kick-started the process, and Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday night in a press conference that wasn't the case.
When the league's version of a papal conclave ended, the color of the smoke released from the Grand Hyatt DFW Airport was just dark. There are no new members. The Big 12 simply decided against expansion. Simple as that.
No Houston. No BYU. No Cincinnati for WVU fans to visit.
And it was anything but a good look. The conference had a presser set for two-and-a-half hours after news first leaked via Twitter. And in the meantime, shots were being fired.
"The only thing the Big 12 can agree on is that it can't agree on anything," fired Football Scoop writer Zach Barnett.
"If this expansion process was all about removing [the] dysfunctional label from [the] Big 12, don't know if it quite succeeded," wrote Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News.
Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel said, "Now every candidate can feel equally insulted."
Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel added, "Entire Big 12 expansion/non expansion seems to have stemmed from [Oklahoma president] David Boren thinking out loud. Maybe ignore him next time."
Later, while Boren and Bowlsby held the aforementioned press conference, Tillman Fertitta, Chairman of Houston's Board of Regents, first said he was "shocked" and then said, "I think you have a bunch of people in that room that couldn't make a decision."
Folks were salty - and understandably so. Lucy, it seemed, pulled the football while Charlie Brown was approaching.
But what actually happened here? Sports Illustrated last Friday reported the Big 12's network partners might be discussing a buyout of the "pro-rata clause" with the league that could have required the networks to pay $25 million extra annually per new member. The networks apparently didn't see schools worth that much and told the league to slow its roll.
On Monday, Bowlsby said he wasn't "going to get into specifics" about that, but pointed to the league's new football championship as a vehicle for discussions. He mentioned he was in "constant contact" with the partners over many issues, possibly even a future third-tier digital platform network.
Yet this wasn't the Big 12's finest hour in any sense. (And the league has had some other doozies.) First, the conference didn't want to be seen as predatory, a la the ACC. But why not make a definite decision to expand or not to expand before inviting all these schools to apply? Surely, the Big 12 had a good idea which schools would lunge at the bait. Instead of looking predatory, the league turned out looking clumsy.
Also, was there a comprehensive plan heading into this process or was one hastily thrown together as a reaction to Boren's comments? You remember the ones. The ones in which he called the league "psychologically disadvantaged" a few months ago for not having more teams, a football championship and a league network.
On Monday night, Boren said "circumstances have radically changed." Uh, sure, Dave. In what, two, three months?
Some on social media Monday were comparing the Big 12 to the Kardashians. All talk and no substance. And there are many reasons for criticism. Schools were deked out and 11 - finalists Air Force, BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Connecticut, Houston, Rice, South Florida, SMU and Tulane - were seriously strung along. Each spent at least $10,000, according to reports, for presentations.
OK, so the bottom lines, the views, from here? Well, three are walking out with red faces: Boren, Bowlsby and, to a smaller degree, the Big 12. Boren was the catalyst to the catastrophy. Bowlsby did what he could under tough circumstances, but is the face of the league. And if the Big 12 wants to push any NCAA legislation in the near future, well, I wouldn't count on the vote of at least 20 schools.
WVU president E. Gordon Gee, for his part, stood fast in his convictions. He was "very enthusiastic" about expansion all along. (He gave me that quote last Monday.) So I only buy the "unanimous" party line if it's used in relation to conference unity.
Forget, however, about which characters are walking away from this with red faces. Forget about how the league looks. In the long run, folks (with the exception of the 11 finalists) won't remember this stuff.
What does come from the rubble, however, isn't good for most of the league's schools with the exception of Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12 still doesn't live up to its name with only 10 schools. It now has an awkward football championship coming up with participants definitely playing a second time. (League motto: One true champion - if you can beat me in the second game.) And, most importantly, there is no strength in numbers.
If Texas and/or Oklahoma take a powder down the road, schools like WVU are left unprotected. Gee obviously understood that, thus his support of expansion by four teams.
So, no, it wasn't a good look for the Big 12. It wasn't a good day for the hopeful candidates. But it also wasn't a great day for West Virginia University.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.