Unfortunately there’s, uh, also some bad news about that.
Yesterday, when the story broke about Jim Sterk leaving San Diego State for Mizzou, legitimate media types took to Twitter to raise the perfectly logical question of how this will affect SDSU’s bid for Big 12 inclusion.
But still!
Of the takes above, I’m guessing Zeigler’s is closest to reality, which is ironic because he probably tweeted that while hallucinating after a Brazilian wandering spider bit him in the bathtub. Be safe, Mark.
Look, I’m certainly no insider – I’m a blogger with generally dumb opinions who doesn’t even lift. But I would put money on this: Jim Sterk could have signed an 80-year ironclad contract naming him Supreme Allied Commander of SDSU Athletics and it wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. That invite wasn’t, and isn’t, coming.*
I mean, *not anytime soon. And if it ever does, it’s not going to happen in a way that would fulfill our fever dreams of major conference glory.
To get everyone up to speed, let’s recap what’s gone down so far in Big 12 expansion:
- The Big 12 presidents decided in favor of expansion.
- Their TV partners were all: screw that shit.
- And, oh hey, the SEC may just lay back and wait to eviscerate the league once that expansion is complete.
Well, that’s not too murky. For now, let’s just deal with what’s fact: The Big 12 wants to expand. Perhaps by two teams. Maybe even by four! Surely San Diego State, what with our huge media market, Hawaii/Potato Bowl laurels and on-campus Chipotle location is in the top four contenders, right?
What say you, plugged-in Texas media? Do you have a handy chart of where we rank among Big XII wannabes?
Oh.
There are 13 schools on that chart. East Carolina is on that chart. Boise State and SMU and USF and UConn are on that chart. NORTHERN ILLINOIS is on that chart. San Diego State is not on that chart. Or anyone else’s that I’ve seen, and I comprehensively googled this for a solid three or four minutes.
It’s not that we’re being left off the lists of a few rando bloggers. We’re being left off the lists of rando bloggers and traditional media alike. And some of those lists go 13 deep.
So where does this leave the Aztecs?
It’s clear we won’t be part of the first round of Big 12 expansion. But if the SEC comes in and steals the Oklahoma schools? If the Pac-12 and ACC decide to pick the carcass, too? Maybe, eventually, SDSU gets an invite into a best of the rest conference involving the vestiges of the Big 12 and the cream of the MWC and AAC.
We must all now be on #TeamRealignmentChaos, all for the hope of putting a cooler conference logo on stuff while we play in yet another league of second-tier flotsam. I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. Hey, maybe we can partner with Boise State, only to have them back out at the last second!
The good news, if you want to call it that, is that Jim Sterk was not going to change this equation.
My god this is depressing. I really need something to cheer me up, and soon.
LOLOLOLOL, oh man that’s the stuff.
KABEER THIRTY 