It's the end of the world as we know it

Is the apocalypse upon us in college football?

Take the lede in Stewart Mandel's SI column. An absolutely sobering read.

Today is Monday, June 7, the first day of what could be the most earth-shattering week college athletics has seen in decades.
It's hard to believe that less than a week ago, hardly a soul outside of the parties involved had any inkling the Pac-10 might be on the verge of inviting Texas and five other teams. But with The Conference Realignment Texas Hold 'em Game suddenly moving at breakneck speed, we could be sitting here a week from now looking at a radically altered landscape. A series of impending, interconnected decisions currently being made in the offices and board rooms of a select few universities -- most notably Notre Dame, Nebraska and Texas -- could unleash a sweeping tidal wave that impacts nearly every Division I-A member.

For most of the last three months the Big Ten's expansion plan has focused on the demise of the Big East. In Connecticut, that would be catastrophic, but who knew when Big Ten commish Jim Delaney said he wanted to expand that we would get not only the Big East's implosion but a titanic shift of the college athletic landscape?

It's bigger than anyone ever imagined.

The potential Pac-10 expansion dwarfs anything what the Big 10 was going to do. The Big 10 was going to raid the Big East and move into the Eastern markets. The product of that would have been expansion by almost every other conference and depending on the scale, the dissolution of the Big East. That's small potatoes now. The Pac-10 has decided to destroy the Big 12. That would make the Pac 10 the Pac 16 adding Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St. and Colorado (If Baylor doesn't do some politicking).

Now, the Big 12 has decided to either survive or die in a week. I guess Texas Hold'Em isn't called that because the longhorn state is timid. The Big 12 has given Missouri/Nebraska an in or out ultimatum. If Nebraska doesn't commit to the Big 12 longterm, Texas is taking their ball to the Pac-10.

That's pushing all your chips to the table. Texas went all in and decided to decide its fate on their terms this week. Big Ten is going to have to extend invites in the next week, or be done with any thought of taking Nebraska or Missouri (that latter not a big loss for the Big 12).

Texas wants to stay in the Big 12, and is going to put the pressure on Nebraska to stay around, or destroy the entire thing. This will accelerate the Big 10 timeline because Nebraska has to be in or out in the next week. What would happen if the Big 10 never offers Nebraska/Missouri? This is going to get settled soon. It's a power play by the Big 12 that could keep its existence together, or destroy it. Bold move, a little reckless, but this is new territory.

If Nebraska bolts, and the Big 12 dissolves, the collateral damage is astounding. Then, the Big 10 will turn East an presumably take 3 of Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, UConn and the big guy -- Notre Dame.

If this goes down, it vaporizes the athletic landscape. Kansas is tied to Kansas St. (politics) so the inclusion of the Jayhawks in the Big 10 is unlikely because they won't go without the Wildcats. So, Kansas hoops will be looking for a home. Will the SEC pillage the ACC? Will the ACC expand and take UConn?

Teams left out in the cold after all this could be Iowa State, Baylor and the two Kansas schools. If the Big East loses 3, would they attempt to expand again by adding Kansas, Kansas St. and perhaps Central Florida into the mix?

Or, would the Big East break up? The Mountain West wants to add Boise St. and get a BCS bid. Could Kansas, K-State got to the Mountain West with Iowa St and Boise? That league would probably take over the Big East's BCS auto bid

To think that UConn and Kansas -- two of the great basketball programs in the NCAA -- could be left out and scrambling for their athletic futures shows how little hoops plays in this decision.

We have been all following this expansion scenario with bated breath. We are waiting for something to come. After all of this talk, I am not sure I want to see what happens on the other side.

One thing I do like however is what the Big 12 did. They put their destiny into their hands. As Andy Dufrense told Red in the Shawshank Redemption -- "Get busy living, or get busy dying."