There was symmetry for certain the day Oliver Luck was celebrated as WVU’s new A.D. last month. It was on the Monday he was doing his first press conference and then meeting with reporters afterward when news first developed Texas was going to stay put in the Big XII. Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas Tech would remain, too, and quite suddenly conference matters were given cause to pause.

“I’ll call it a truce in this whole skirmish, if you will,” he said. “I think I’ve said this before, but I don’t think it’ll be a permanent situation. I think the Big Ten is still interested in further moves.

“I’m not sure why they don’t feel comfortable now with 12 teams (after adding Nebraska), but as far as I can tell – and I ask this sincerely to you – but they have not made a statement to say, ‘We’re done now. We’re not going to cast a wandering eye south or east,’ have they?

“I’ve not seen them swear off further expansion. I think everyone can take a deep breath and say, ‘Wow, we got out of that little skirmish OK and without too much wear and tear,’ but I don’t believe it to be permanent.”

It’s not permanent, but nothing is imminent, either. Really, WVU was pretty fortunate in two areas:

1) Ed Pastilong, rather than flat-out retire June 30, as his contract specified, helped engineer his two-year emeritus contract. Without that, where would WVU be today? It’s probably fair to assume either Pastilong would have been extended or someone not named Luck would be the A.D. Not that WVU would be screwed in either regard, but it’s worth noting WVU could be in a very different boat. … Who was the other guy involved with that emeritus contract? The name slips my mind.

2) Texas herding itself and the other three schools back to the Big XII gave the Big East a break. Same for Luck. He can now be the A.D. and the guy overseeing the Houston Dynamo stadium project and not be simultaneously tri-tasked with matters requiring miracles in conference affiliation. He can ease into the swimming pool rather than have someone throw him in before he puts down his plate and takes the cell phone out of his pocket.

The athletic department, while ” a pretty well-run and fairly tight – in terms of being responsible fiscally – department,” needs to be evaluated. Not necessarily changed, but evaluated and Luck needs to and will take his time and be rational and responsible. Could he afford such luxuries if the Big East was crumbling around his audit? Likely not. It matters because, as he said, “I’m sure there will be a few things that make me say, ‘Gee, that’s something we should be able to fix. I’ll put that at the top of my list.'”

Well, maybe near the top of the list. Conference membership — Aside: We need a better name for this, along the lines of TBA, that is short, catchy and encapsulates everything it involves — is what keeps him up at night. It’s not going away and Luck isn’t sure an eight-team Big East is a tenable situation. For that, he and his school must plan ahead.

“There are a lot of contingency plans,” Luck said. “You have the ACC, which is geographically a conference I think would work for WVU, as would the SEC. But also, I don’t want people to think there’s an absolute plan where one thing happens to the Big East this day and then two days later we’re in the ACC.

“That’s not accurate. It’s a matter of understanding what could happen and understanding what our options may be available with those conferences.”