Big 12: NCAA’s Greg Shaheen now on the open market

Greg Shaheen, who has spent the last 12 years running the NCAA basketball tournament, resigned Friday. You can read the NCAA release here.

Shaheen basically was forced out, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. Earlier this wee, espn.com’s Dana O’Neil wrote a column in support of Shaheen. You can read it here.

Shaheen has been championed by some to become the Big 12 commissioner. He’s certainly qualified in a number of areas:

* Television negotiations. Shaheen was in charge when the NCAA negotiated its $10.8 billion television contract for the tournament, and the only thing it cost was expansion from 65 to 68 teams.

* Administrative experience. Shaheen’s most recent title was the NCAA’s interim executive vice president for championships and alliances. He had been with the NCAA since 2000.

* Arbiter. Trying to placate 10 schools, at least, plus all the various personalities within those schools, is a tough job. But running a tournament that by its very nature invites criticism — who gets in, who plays when, who plays where, who plays at what time, should the court be raised, etc. — requires people skills, too.