To think the Big12 is going to one day announce it is considering expansion and suggest that interested candidates contact them, and then - a few days or couple of weeks later, tell the world BYU is in, is just plain silly. Such actions would be telling the universe that the B12 was prevaricating in making its announcement.

The broad expectation on this board, and everywhere else, was that Texas was going to have its way and there was going to be no expansion. How does one go from there to deciding, on the day of the meeting, that BYU is in? The tea leave readings that are going on here belie the facts.

I fully expect that every B12 conversation on this front will be wrapped in confidentiality agreements and styled in a manner to avoid open records act disclosures. The B12 will do everything it can to protect itself from lawsuits, public ridicule and intense political criticism.

I stated this position on this board over the weekend and was ridiculed for it. And then folks have the hubris to go on and insist this is a done deal. That arrogance puts us in a very bad light. You can see Tom Holmoe is not making that mistake. There have been hinted criticisms of him for not getting this deal signed and done already. If he ever publicly manifested such thoughts, we would lose our shot. Given the impossible barriers to entry into P5 status, he knows full well we cannot offend P5 leadership. He has done a fantastic job.

What do I believe of the ramblings on this board? BYU has the best credentials - not even close. I also believe the claims that Texas does not want us in. The linked Baylor article opposing UH was both hopeful and concerning. The writer did not want to strengthen a competitor for in state recruits. Of all of the out of state schools being considered, BYU WILL be the program that can poach Trxas kids most effectively. At the same time, if the issues is about strength, continuity and futute bargaining power as a conference, as that article suggests it should be, we should be just fine.

Finally - the first four games of a season have never meant so much to any tram as they do to BYU this year. Losing them all will be a fact pounced on by our adversaries. These games matter simply because no decision will be made by then. For those of you who want to discount that factor - I ask - would you consider wins in the first four games to NOT help our case?

What can we do? Fill stadiums everywhere.