Conference Realignment: Teams Should Exercise Patience During Expansion Talks

More than anything else, fear drives conference expansion and realignment.

Schools, led by presidents and athletic directors, are afraid of being passed over, leaving them out in the cold and facing the harsh reality of being irrelevant.

I can also hear an argument that it's all driven by money, but that comes from the fear that if they don't align themselves with a more prestigious conference, they won't be able to make as much money as they would otherwise.

Given their fear of being passed over, it's tempting for programs to act quickly, but that's a mistake. Teams are making decisions about their future. Those decisions must be made carefully, not hastily, as they so often are.

For an example of what making a hasty decision can do, look at TCU.

Frustrated by their inability to get respect on a national level, the Horned Frogs were desperate to do everything they could to get into a BCS automatic qualifying conference. When the Big East extended an invitation, TCU jumped at it without so much as a second thought.

Now, I'm sure they're wishing they hadn't done that. The Big East, thanks to the defections of Pittsburgh and Syracuse and the rumor of Connecticut leaving, is verging on falling apart.

At this point, I'm not sure that the Big East is any better than the Mountain West, the conference TCU is leaving, and there is no guarantee that the Big East will survive much longer.

Given how much movement there has been since TCU agreed to move to the Big East, there's no doubt that TCU would have gotten a better invitation if they just would have waited. The Big 12 would be chomping at the bit to bring in a team the caliber of TCU.

If you're an athletic program, you have to have faith that there is a place for you. Just like in life, there is someone for everyone.

If you're a team looking to fly the coop, I would advise you to pump the brakes. Sometimes, the first offer to move up isn't the best offer you will receive. Just ask TCU.