Bjork: Tops in strong position

Officials monitoring changes in case conference expansion hits Western Kentucky, SBC

By DANIEL PIKE, The Daily News, dpike@bgdailynews.com/783-3271


For now, the West, Midwest and Southwest are focal points for conference expansion, which suddenly seems poised to dramatically redraw the college athletics map.



But if the changes ultimately prove as sweeping as this week's developments and speculation suggest - resulting perhaps in a 16-team Pac-10 Conference, a significantly beefed-up Big Ten Conference and a decimated Big 12 Conference - the wave could eventually reach the Southeast, possibly affecting Western Kentucky University and the Sun Belt Conference.

What might happen then, however, remains anyone's guess.

On Thursday, as rumors and reports continued to swirl about a potential mass departure from the Big 12, WKU athletic director Ross Bjork said he's keeping an eye on the developments, although it's too early to speculate on the futures of either WKU or the Sun Belt.



Bjork said WKU is interested both in strengthening the Sun Belt and in bolstering the Hilltoppers' standing in the NCAA Division I hierarchy - goals that might or might not be connected once the dust settles. WKU remains committed to the Sun Belt, Bjork said, but the school must also remain "nimble" if circumstances warrant.

"I think anything's a possibility at this point in time," Bjork said. "It's hard to be too proactive, so you're almost in a reactive/proactive mode. Because these dominoes are going to fall, which you have no control over. And then what happens when they get to you? That's what you have control over. ...

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"The first priority is to make sure the Sun Belt is as strong as possible - whatever that looks like, whatever that means."



Reports surfaced Wednesday that Nebraska would defect from the Big 12 and join the Big Ten as early as today, while Colorado announced Thursday it will leave the Big 12 for the Pac-10 - which is believed to be pursuing a number of Big 12 schools, including major prizes Texas and Oklahoma, in an effort to expand to 16 teams. If the Pac-10 does swell to 16, it could prompt the Big Ten to add more than one team as well. The Big 12 could be effectively eliminated, and other major conferences such as the Big East, the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern would conceivably make efforts to keep pace.



Of course, it's also possible that very few of the rumored changes become reality, leaving the college landscape essentially intact.



Any form of massive realignment, however, would be driven by the huge pot of cash generated by college football, especially through TV contracts, and could have wide-ranging ripple effects, potentially altering everything from the Bowl Championship Series in football to the selection process for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.



At this point, it's impossible to predict how much, if at all, the athletic picture at WKU could change in the coming months. But Bjork thinks the Hilltopper program is positioned well - thanks to its strong basketball legacy, its recent jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and significant facility improvements - should the shuffling reach the Sun Belt.

"I think, in our case, we're in a great spot either way," Bjork said. "I think we're in a great spot in the Sun Belt, I think we're in a great spot for whatever else may happen in the future. No one knows. Honestly, no one knows what's going to happen, other than the first dominoes starting to fall."



Bjork does not foresee the conference shifts altering the number of teams that compete in the FBS, for instance, so WKU's place among the 120 programs at the highest college level would be safe. But the potential certainly exists for the athletic budgets within the mega-conferences to balloon to such a degree that it becomes more difficult for WKU to compete.

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It does cause you to say, ‘Can we continue to compete with those types of programs?' "

Bjork said. "And on a daily basis, it's tough. But I think, over time, we've had success here beating those high-level teams. We've had success being competitive in games - not necessarily winning, but being competitive. So I think you're always going to be competitive in certain aspects, but somebody that has a $100 million budget, versus our budget at $19 million, obviously they're going to have more resources. ...

"It does cause you some pause to say, ‘OK, what's out there if the norm is now $80 million budgets with all these super conferences?' That part is going to be tough to compete with, but I think in our case we're uniquely positioned."

Bjork said conference realignment has been a topic of conversation between himself and WKU President Gary Ransdell. (The ultimate decisions on conference affiliation are made by university presidents). Only in recent days, however, has it become a significant part of Bjork's daily activities.



Still, for the time being, Bjork said WKU officials can do little but monitor the developments and approach the changing climate from one angle: making the Sun Belt - which is unquestionably among the bottom-tier conferences in the FBS - a stronger league, whether it loses teams, adds teams or remains untouched.

"We're not the leader in this derby, and everyone recognizes that," Bjork said. "So we have to kind of wait and see how the dominoes do fall. But I think you always have to be strategic on what makes the league better and have your eyes out there."