Dave Clark

dclark@cincinnati.com

West Virginia University athletic director Oliver Luck discussed a plan he had in 2011 that would have merged teams from the Big 12 and Big East conferences, in an article by ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy.

From McMurphy:

In September 2011, the Big East was stunned by the departures of Pitt and Syracuse, and the Big 12 was in danger of losing four schools to the Pac-12.

"My favorite story that hasn't been written," Luck said. "After Syracuse and Pittsburgh (announced they were leaving for the ACC), that was in the same time frame that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were playing footsie with (Pac-12 commissioner) Larry (Scott) and the Big East was a mess."

So Luck began cold-calling athletic directors at Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State with a proposal.

"I didn't know those guys from Adam," Luck said. "I knew the schools. I told them, 'Your conference may fall apart. You guys look like you might get left behind. Why don't we take all of you and TCU, which was kind of homeless."

Luck's plan, which also had the support of Louisville athletic Tom Jurich, was also to add UCF for a 12-team Big East divided into two divisions: West: Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU and Louisville; East: UConn, Cincinnati, Rutgers, West Virginia, South Florida and UCF.

"I remember thinking: 'That's not a bad conference,'" Luck said. "And we would have kept the affiliation with the (Big East) basketball schools, because they loved the addition of Kansas. They (the Big 12 schools) also liked it. They were nervous as hell, too. We had a series of phone calls. That was sort of our best option."

Luck said he had three or four phone discussions with the Big 12 schools. Then-Big East commissioner John Marinatto was not involved in the discussions and no formal offer was extended, but the Big 12 schools -- if left behind by the schools headed to the Pac-12 -- were prepared for the merger.

"At that point in time, we were ready to flip the switch," Currie said.

Of course, the merger never happened. Although Texas A&M and Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC, Texas and Oklahoma remained in the Big 12. The Big 12 survived, but the Big East eventually lost a number of schools, including -- ironically -- West Virginia to the Big 12 a year later.

"I think (the proposed merger) that may have helped us get in the Big 12 later," Luck said jokingly. "They were like, 'Hey, I've talked to that Luck guy before.'"

UC joined the American Athletic Conference in 2013. On July 1, Louisville will join the ACC and Rutgers will join the Big Ten. East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will join the AAC.