… and, no, it’s not to stop the obsessive behavior about conference realignment. From what I’ve gathered, here are a few things you need you to know and concern yourselves with as it relates to WVU.

1) Nothing has happened. This is not to say nothing will ever happen — the contrary is true, despite recent events — but the idea there is a plan already in place, if not  in motion, that involves WVU seems suspect. It just doesn’t make much sense. Is there a contingency somewhere? I would say yes. That’s the responsibility of the people charged with making decisions and taking care of the best interests of their school and conference. But nothing is done. And don’t think these conversations between an official from one conference and an official from another conference are completely open and honest. No one is to be totally trusted.

2) Oliver Luck and Jim Clements are very well-connected individuals and in the places that matter: ACC, SEC, Big XII. They know how to make and accept phone calls. They’re following this quite closely and know the contingency strategies should one thing happen and, presumably, trigger another.

3) WVU is not the low-hanging fruit here. That title belongs to Texas A&M and then there are a few other schools in line ahead of WVU. Sorry, that’s the reality. Could it come around to WVU? Absolutely. Would a conference be lucky to have WVU? Again, absolutely. Point remains, there are others that will come up first. Those others may accept offers. They may decline offers. They may be denied offers. One way or another, it could eventually reach WVU, but don’t assume it will be immediate.

4) You’ll hate me for this: There’s an idea going around that life in the SEC isn’t all that enticing for WVU and life in the ACC might not be that much better. The money might be better, but for how long? And for what end? Just as brief examples, WVU football would not be as competitive on a regular basis in the SEC. Right away, WVU lacks the resources to make it work and would need time to develop extra money for recruiting, better depth on the field, so on and so forth. Could it work? Sure, but not right away and not annually. There’s more money in the SEC, sure, but is it worth it for, say, 7-5 and 8-4 seasons? You have to schedule differently and treat the nonconference games easier, but that comes with a literal price, too. And don’t forget basketball. WVU likes the metro NYC area. Figure that will slip a little or a lot in the SEC. As for the ACC, the league that avoided WVU last time, what if that league loses some combination of Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech or Tobacco Road? Is that so much better than the Big East? And what if the Big East’s next television deal trumps the ACC’s? And, again, don’t forget basketball. The ACC wouldn’t be the same without the Tobacco Road schools. These are all things to be considered … and the strange part is WVU matches up better as a SEC team than it does with as an ACC team.

5) Here’s the fun part: There is no executive decision-maker here. No CEO or no authority figure who can say what’s allowed and what is not. I still think we’re looking at fewer conferences, but larger conferences. And I still believe the final picture is something we haven’t yet considered or given much thought to. And here’s an idea someone smart kicked my way recently, one that illustrates what we’re talking about here: What if the Big XII loses Texas A&M … or Texas A&M and Missouri? That’s an eight- or nine-team league, but still one with good schools and a good presence. It’s not really different from the Big East, except the Big XII has Oklahoma and Texas … and that’s only for as long as Texas stays put. Why couldn’t the Big XII get to nine teams and the Big East stick with nine teams and send its regular-season champion to a Big XII v. Big East title game? Or what if the Big XII added to get to 10 and the Big East did the same? Now split each into two five-team divisions. Have the division winners play a semifinal and the semifinal winners play a championship game. There’s nothing like that now, but there’s no one to say it can’t one day exist.