B1G - in Dec of 2009 the B1G announced they would expand...on June 11, 2010 Nebraska applied for and was granted membership starting 2012. in nov of 2012, B1G opens up negotiations with maryland. just a few days later, on nov 19, maryland was officially voted into the B1G. (they did not join until july 1, 2014). that same day rutgers held a meeting to accept invite to B1G and on nov 20 they were formally voted into the B1G.

P12 - early june 2010 rumors circulate about P12 blowing up B12 and adding TT, UT, OU, OSU, CU and possibly Baylor or TAMU. june 10, 2010, CU announces they will join for the next school year (2011). 5 days later texas got it's LHN deal and convinced everyone to stay effectively ending P10's goal of becoming a power-16 conference. P10 now stuck at 11. june 17 P12 invites UU who accepts.

SEC - on sept 6, 2011 SEC board meets and votes in favor of expansion. on sept 25, 2011, they formally invite TAMU who accepts to participate in the 2012 season. (potential efforts to sue by baylor and other B12 members were settled outside court). on nov 6, 2011, SEC formally announces invite/acceptance of Mizzou into conf starting in 2012 season (just 7 months later!)

(i used Wiki and ESPN articles for all info)

so...what can we learn...

#1 - in NONE of these recent cases were BOTH universities added in some JOINT statement. they were all added on SEPARATE days at SEPARATE times.

#2 - in the case of SEC and P12 the formal announcement of "hey we're going to expand" and the actual acceptance of invitations occurred within a few days or weeks. interestingly with Mizzou, several months passed before they were invited as #14.

#3 - in P12 and SEC's case schools were allowed to join their new P5 conference the very next season, even if only a few months away. B1G is different and the schools did wait longer. again, i feel VERY strongly the B12 will flex it's muscle at the AAC or MWC RE these exit fees and any potential litigation involved.

#4 - the most obvious invite (TAMU, CU) happens almost immediately.

we also know based on B12 bylaws they can meet, if needed, via telephone or skype to formally extend an invite to school A after bowlsby does his vetting process. while i believe they've already voted on members and are simply negotiating terms and using all this hoopla to get what they want, even if that's not true and a simple "ranking" or "wish list" was made, once they agree to terms with THAT school (BYU) they will invite them. if terms have to be worked on for another school we've seen that carry on into the season, sometimes late into the season but they STILL get invited for the following school year.

read my lips: "there is no way in HECK the B12 plays a 10-team round robin schedule in 2017 with their CCG." whatever needs to be done to add 2 schools by that time will be done and the B12 will have at least 12 members for 2017 season. i'm confident BYU will be one of them. assuming they can reach agreeable terms i have no doubt they could be announced soon putting more pressure on other schools jockeying for #12 slot.