In any scenario you can think of that has truth to it it's always the media who reports it and validates what's going on.

If someone told you something crazy happened, first thing most of us do is run to credible news sites to see if it's being reported. Once we see it's being reported we tend to then believe. People keep saying "the media was dead wrong about expansion" but were they? Or did they report what they were told and then in the 11th hour the ACC GOR extension completely change things? We are always reminded "things are fluid"... "Circumstances change" right?

Look at the Brexit issue. The news reported that UK would vote to remain, it even looked like they were right until the 11th hour and the globe went crazy after the vote was to have the UK leave the EU.

It's not crazy to think expansion was dead but changed at the last minute thus explaining why the Big 12 has been moving at a snails pace. If the vote and exploration was all "just a formality" there is no way an announcement wouldn't have been made by now.