might start to fall once the ball gets rolling. Oklahoma could end up being an interesting domino because early reports suggested that Oklahoma only had eyes for the Pac-10 with the eventual plan to for the conference to become the Pac-16. After that deal fell apart reports surfaced that Oklahoma may have 1 eye on the Big Ten. Now reports have started to surface that Oklahoma may be re-thinking its position about the SEC and willing to have 1 eye on that conference too.

It is my understanding that Kansas St, Oklahoma St, and Texas Tech are not considered to be big commodities by the Big Ten, Pac-12, or SEC. If their "big brother" (aka Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas) are able to workout solo deals for themselves, then I am not sure those 3 conferences have any incentive to take the "little brother." At least the Pac-10 sent a clear message when it was exploring the possibility of becoming the Pac-16 that it wouldn't take Texas Tech without Texas (or possibly Texas A&M prior to Texas A&M's move to the SEC). I am not sure anything has changed for Texas Tech that would influence the Pac-12 to change its position. Oklahoma State is in a little better position because it brings "T. Boone" money to the table, but even that may not be enough to get them into the Pac-16.

As far as the ACC goes, you are correct that the ACC may be the only conference willing to have partial members. Can the ACC's reputation as a power conference afford to add multiple partial members (especially if those members are non-football members)? I could be wrong but it seems that the ACC's reputation took a slight hit when it became "the new Big East of the power conferences" by agreeing to a partial membership with Notre Dame. I am not saying it was the wrong move to make at the time, but I do see why some people think the move had the smell of desperation. If the ACC allows Oklahoma and Texas to join Notre Dame as non-football partial members, then it may become harder for the conference to draw a line in the sand and give those partial members an ultimatum; either join the conference as full members or get out.