After reading on several boards concerning the re-alignment there have been some fans wondering if the NCAA would allow the Big 12 a waiver about their conference. This relates back to a story Eagletalk.net did a month or two ago.

The NCAA has nothing to do with or can not do anything about the realignment. They have nothing to do with the decision about which conferences are included in the BCS and which ones are not. If they did, more than likely the FCS college world would have some type of playoff system like in every other NCAA controlled sport in every division level. This whole BCS mess is about television money and started with Oklahoma suing the NCAA and winning the lawsuit. (Some believe it was ND but it started with the Sooners.)

When the Big East imploded they did not lose their BCS Auto-Qualifier and the Big 12 will not lose theirs either. They will get warnings if a certain amount of their teams are not ranked in the top 20 over a stated period of time they will lose their auto-bid. (I believe the Big East was given three years. Why do you think USF and Cincinnati moved up so fast in the polls? They were bottom feeders in CUSA and within two years ranked in the top ten. Why? Weak competition leads to more wins, less losses and higher rankings. Miami, Florida State dropped in the polls because they faced better competition, had more losses, less wins and lower rankings. ) Much like what happened in the Big East, the media will start to rank the Big 12 teams in the top 20 because they will have more wins because of weaker competition. The teams leaving the Big 12 will have more losses, resulting in lower rankings because of tougher competition. With the Big 12 schools ranked higher everything will be fine in the Big 12/BCS world. 

There was a comment on one board about six teams playing for five years in order to get a bid. That is an NCAA rule primarily concerned about basketball and other sports the NCAA controls not the FCS/BCS. The Big East dropped to four football schools before they went to eight when they added Louisville, Cincinnati, USF and asked UConn to join them in football a year early.

By BCS rules a BCS conference has to have eight teams. (Hmmm which BCS conference has eight teams?) In theory, if Texas, LSU, Ohio State, Florida, ND, USC, Michigan and Oklahoma formed a conference the BCS could give them an auto-bid immediately and there is nothing the NCAA can do. However, the NCAA could keep them from getting a bid to March Madness for five years.   

Now, IMO, CUSA, MWC, SunBelt or WAC can not pick up any of the Big 12 Schools. The Big 12 schools are going to have to pick up schools from those conferences. Reason, none of those conferences have an auto-bid, the Big 12 does. So, in order for the Big 12 to keep the auto-bid they have to bring schools into their conference. If they moved to other conferences the auto-bid would go away for those schools and don't think they want that to happen. (Say for example they decided to go to CUSA, what would happen is CUSA would fold and become the Big 12 not the other way around.)

If they went to the Big East there would be no problem.

With the MWC on the verge of getting an auto-bid it would be the most attractive of the non-auto bid conferences for them to go. More than likely the BCS would give the MWC an auto-bid because of the inclusion of the Big 12 schools .  

However, keeping what is left of the Big 12 together and bringing in new teams would almost guarantee they keep the auto-bid i.e. the Big East.