Big 12 football: More madness in conference realignment

West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen looks on against Marshall during the second quarter of a NCAA football game Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner)

The Big 12 tells West Virginia an invitation will be forthcoming, the whole danged state celebrates, then the Big 12 says, well, maybe. What a joke. What an absolute joke.

Various reports say most of the Big 12 wants West Virginia, but some prefer Louisville, including OU president David Boren. Fine. Whatever. And forget, for a moment, the obvious solution, which is invite them both and get on down the road to 12 schools in the league.

Can we please some have some honor in the league? Can we please some have some leadership? Can we please conduct business with just a smidgen of decorum?

After this nonsense, it’s clearer than ever that the only the desperate would be interested in the Big 12. After this nonsense, it’s clearer than than ever that getting anyone to trust this leadership, be it interim commish Chuck Neinas or defacto commish DeLoss Dodds or any school president, is fruitless. After this nonsense, it’s clearer than ever that it’s a waste of time trying to talk Missouri into staying.

Talk about turning something good into something rotten. Remember the glee down in Fort Worth when the Big 12 added TCU? Same kind of thing spread over West Virginia on Tuesday; the Mountaineers and their fans were thrilled at the prospect of joining the Big 12. Only to have the brakes applied the next morning.

If West Virginia makes it back to the good graces of the Big 12, rest assured the glee will not be so grand. West Virginia had a revelation. Let this be a lesson learned, Mountaineers. If you get into Conference Chaos, sleep with one eye open.

I think West Virginia will get in, eventually. That’s what the networks want. Louisville-Texas Tech doesn’t attract many eyeballs. West Virginia-Oklahoma State does. At some point, the Big 12 has to listen to the networks — Fox, which just shelled out that huge contract to make the Big 12 feel good about itself, and ESPN, which figures to do the same in a few years.

But to embarrass the Mountaineers like this is unforgivable. I have no idea who to blame. I think Neinas is the least likely suspect. This kind of madness was going on before he arrived and this kind of madness was going on after Beebe was beheaded. So the common denominators are the leaders at the schools.

Out here, we sort of care who. But out in West Virginia, they only care about what. As in, what is going on with Conference Chaos? And the Moutaineers have to be asking themselves. Is this really our only option?