Poll: Bearcats Fans, Would You Trade Whit Babcock For A Spot In The Big XII?

Sep 2, 2012; Waco, TX, USA; A general view of the Big 12 logo at Floyd Casey Stadium before the game between the Baylor Bears and the Southern Methodist Mustangs. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Let me run a crazy scenario by you; If given the opportunity, how would you feel if Cincinnati got an invitation to the Big XII if it meant that UC would give up Whit Babcock as its athletic director?

Confused? Maybe a little queasy? I should provide a bit of context.

On Tuesday, University of Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds announced that he would step down by August 31, 2014. While news about an AD of a school isn’t typically relevant for Bearcats fans, they should definitely keep an eye on this. Dodds is arguably the most powerful athletic director in college athletics. The laundry list of accomplishments to his name is miles long. Perhaps the only thing you need to know about Dodds is that he’s turn Texas into the wealthiest athletics organization in the country.

Needless to say, Dodds’ resignation has turned the Longhorns AD position into the most coveted gig in college athletics.

This is where things start to get interesting. West Virginia AD Oliver Luck has been mentioned as a frontrunner for the vacant position in Texas. While it’s purely speculation at this point, Luck seems like a strong candidate given his history of exceptional coaching hires, aggressively moving WVU into the greener pastures of the Big XII, and overall upgrading Mountaineers athletics top-to-bottom. He’s a forward thinking athletic director who has made a name for himself on national scale.

So, totally hypothetically, let’s say Texas up and hires Oliver Luck to replace DeLoss Dodds, thus leaving a massive vacancy in the WVU athletic department. Now’s where it starts to get interesting (nauseating) for Cincy fans. Even more hypothetically, let’s say West Virginia poaches Whit Babcock from Cincinnati to be named as the Mountaineers’ new athletic director.

But, because Texas hired Oliver Luck, and only Oliver Luck, the new athletic director pushes for the Big XII (or agrees with the other conference ADs, rather) to expand to 12 or 14 teams. It’s basically assumed that Texas has been running the Big XII and carried more than its fair share of influence over the direction of the conference. Thus, Texas AD DeLoss Dodds was not only heavily influential over the affairs of his school but the entire conference. This is unprecedented anywhere other than Texas. And Luck could use that influence to push his pro-expansion ideologies.

“Ollie”, as his friends and now I will call him, has been pro-expansion since West Virginia’s days in the Big East. Additionally, he’s also been an extremely vocal advocate for the Big XII to add more teams. Since it’s so likely that Luck as Texas’ athletic director would be the catalyst for the Big XII expansion, Cincinnati would probably be in the conference’s cross hairs. The Bearcats may or may not be the top of the list but if the conference were to add 2 or 4 teams, UC would be among them.

But remember, this scenario would mean that Whit Babcock wouldn’t be the captain at the helm to guide the Goode Ship Bearcats into their new conference. He’s been one of the most polarizing figures at UC since being hired two years ago, somehow tackled the Nippert Stadium renovation issue, and hired one of the biggest names in college football to coach the Bearcats. In short, he’s revolutionized the Cincinnati athletic department. But Babcock would be heading to West Virginia under this scenario, trading red and black for blue and gold.

So would you be OK with that, giving up Whit Babcock for a spot in the Big XII conference? You can have one or the other. You can’t have both. Vote!