We have various lists of candidates for the next spot aboard the good ship Big 12, which is perfectly stable and watertight and will remain so forever. Most of those lists begin with the BYU Cougars, but the New York Times' Pete Thamel reports the Louisville Cardinals may be first in line if the Missouri Tigers leave for the SEC.
And it wouldn't be a conference realignment story if the Notre Dame Fighting Irish weren't mentioned. According to Chip Brown, whose name has now appeared 25 times in this StoryStream so far, the Texas Longhorns are again trying to court the Irish, but only for non-football sports.
Notre Dame values its sacred football independence, because its football independence has a lot of value $$$$$$$$$$$$$$, but depositing its other sports somewhere safe (or at least safer than the Big East) could be a good idea.
For more, visit Louisville blog Card Chronicle and Notre Dame blog One Foot Down. Stay tuned for more conference realignment news.