Paul Daugherty

pdaugherty@enquirer.com

Maybe Tommy Tuberville didn’t mean to let it slip so casually in the conversation, or maybe he figured we heathen media knew it already. Regardless, I think I was the only one at the UC coach’s presser Tuesday who nearly fell from his chair when Tuberville said this:

“I’d imagine those decisions are already made.’’

The “decisions’’ are the Big 12’s, regarding expansion. The question I asked was how important, for the sake of perception, is it that the Bearcats make a good showing Thursday night v. #6 Houston, at Nippert.

Tubs said not very, because the league has already decided whether it wants to expand and if it does, who it wants to add.

UC expects sellout vs. No. 6 Houston

Did you know that?

As recently as last week, schools were still lobbying intensely. South Florida recruited Tony Dungy to bolster its case. Was that just for show?

A UC insider told me he believed an announcement could come as early as Oct. 1. No one seems to know what the 12 will do. I mean, they’re asking me what I think. I’m as connected to this issue as a dean at Harvard Law School. The insider put it at 50-50 the Big 12 will expand at all.

UC makes Big 12's first round of cuts

If it does, the UC people are confident they’ve “checked all the boxes.’’ They see themselves as a better fit than Houston, even as the Cougars would contend for the conference title right now. Houston is too good for its own good, if that makes sense. (And in the weird world of the Big 12, it really does.) The Cougars are threatening because they’re good and if they get into the league, they’ll keep their share of the stud recruits coming out of Houston and east Texas. The NYTImes:

Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel certainly doesn’t want the Cougs, and he used to be the school's head coach. He told the Wichita Eagle:

"If they get into the Big 12, they will be tough to beat in recruiting because of the proximity. ... I can’t believe anybody would want Houston."

Plus, Houston’s value as an untapped TV market is nil.

UC vs. Big 12 candidates: Who stands out?

Another hot candidate, BYU, is roundly dismissed, apparently for its controlling ways, its controversial LGBT stance, its refusal to play on Sundays (a headache in nonrevenue sports) and its far-flung location. Hey, kids, let’s fly from Morgantown to Provo for a volleyball match! Then fly straight back!

That leaves UC in a good spot. New TV market, fresh Ohio recruiting turf, acceptable academics, partner/rival for West Virginia. Plus, the Bearcats approach has been lower key than others. Presidents appreciate that.

Evidently.

Maybe the 12 gets enough pressure from Fox and ESPN to stay at 10 teams, it does. Wait, you want us to pay you $40 mil more a year? Maybe Texas squashes the whole thing and says 10 is a fine number.

Regardless, what is arguably the most important UC football game since they were Tebow-ed in the Sugar Bowl will have little or no bearing on the Big 12’s expansion plans. Because, according to TT, the plans have already been made.

Noisy Nippert could boost UC vs. Houston

Stay tuned.

TYLER BOYD WAS LATE. We’ve been doing Beyond The Stripes for four years, close to 20 times a year, never had a guy arrive late. Not once. I wanted to ask the rookie what would happen if he arrived 20 minutes late to a team meeting. I didn’t.

That said, Boyd was OK talking about growing up in a dead steel mill town not far from Pittsburgh, and how when he was playing basketball for Clairton HS, an electrical fire gutted the interior of his house ... and how the masses gathered to raise money for him, his brother and mom to find a new place. The community reaction was so swift, they were in a new place within a month. It was a reason he went to Pitt, where he broke all of Larry Fitzgerald’s freshman records.

All of which was great stuff, but. . .

Rule 1 in AdultWorld. Be on time. If you can’t be on time, be early.

RANT O’ THE DAY AND I KNOW I HAVE A REALLY GOOD LIFE WHEN STUFF LIKE THIS SETS ME OFF. I will not patronize any restaurant that has a one-word name that isn’t Tony’s or Mama’s or Mel’s or you get the picture.

Trendy one-word places (Red, Blue etc) annoy me. We were in Charlotte last week, close to a breakfast place called The Toastery.

Isn’t that precious?

My son used to live in a town in Long Island that had a breakfast restaurant called Toast. I wouldn’t go to Toast if it were the last place on earth with a loaf of rye.

If I were a Seinfeld-ian comedian, I’d have big fun with Toast:

“Do you have any bagels?’’

“What are you, stupid? The place is named Toast.’’

“I’d like an English muffin, please.’’

“Everyone’s a comedian.’’

“Could I get a chocolate chip sco. . .’’

“Get the freak outta here!’’

THE CLUB is playing entirely well, and no one particularly cares. Fifth win in a row lastnight, watched by 12,000. The Reds have to be good to even think about drawing in September. Vacations and weekend trips are done, school’s back, the football monster needs feeding. Reds invisible.

Nevertheless, does their second-half competence ease your skepticism? Can you look at Bailey, Disco, Straily, Finnegan and TBA, and see a competitive rotation? Can you see a lineup that will score enough runs?

I guess it depends on how one defines competitive. Competitive, as in .500? Sure. As in, wild card relevancy? Whoa.

Still not enough proven talent. If next season started today, who are your go-to stars? Votto and. . . and. . .

Peraza has had a nice 2nd half. He’s not a star. Duvall has had a very good year. He’s as close to stardom as anyone not named Joe. Who else?

The fun is in the hoping. The joy is in watching youthful striving. So long as Wait ‘Til Next Year doesn’t become a marketing tool.

WE DISAGREED LAST NIGHT ON BTS, RE THE SIGNIFICANCE of Sunday’s game at ‘Burgh. PDJ and Jim-O said it was highly important. I said not so much.

First look: Bengals at Steelers

It’s too early for big significance, even if it is the Stillers. Besides, The Men have won at Ketchup Stadium frequently over the years. I’d like to think that the Bengals have matured to the point where they don’t play this game the way they played the last two w/Pittsburgh last year. Hurting opponents and getting hurt yourselves is dumb football, especially with at least 14 games to go.

I think Dalton has all but eliminated any dissenters. He shouldn’t rattle against anyone anymore. The front 7 needs to do a better job than it did in Jersey. D’Angelo Williams has much left in the tank. The O-line needs to play the way it did last year, not the way it has so far this year, August included.

Prediction coming tomorrow.

IF YOU READ ONE THING TODAY, make it this piece, written by the perceptive and wise Howard Bryant on ESPN.com. I don’t always agree with him – and I think he has this one about half right – but he makes fine points about Baseball and blacks:

During its most integrated, baseball has never known quite what to do with its black players, or any players, for that matter. The game is rooted in its anachronisms. Even its coded language -- play the game the right way -- repels the stylish flairs of a modern player, kids raised in a time of selfies and TV highlights. Unlike football and basketball, which have better adapted to the people who play, making it more attractive to younger players, baseball forces its strict, traditional culture on kids born in the 1990s and 2000s. Griffey took batting practice with his hat on backward, and the old guard treated it as if he had sworn in church.

Bryant suggests Baseball deliberately, if subtly, doesn’t want African-Americans involved. Maybe Bryant’s not been to any of the urban academies MLB has fostered, whose aim is precisely to get blacks back to playing the game. Maybe he thinks Baseball wants to keep losing ground to football and basketball. Maybe Bryant believes baseball wants lesser athletes.

I don’t disagree that MLB lags in promoting minorities to positions of power away from the field. On the field? It’s strictly a personal choice. The belief that baseball is too slow, too traditional, too boring isn’t limited strictly to black kids. White kids like selfies and TV highlights, too.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. I’m going to DC today, to speak to profs and students at Georgetown U. about the memoir I wrote on Jillian The Magnificent. In that vein, a great, Chuck-esque rocker from G. Thorogood, not quite a native son of the District, but close enough.

He was cold, tired hungry and a-beggin’ for bread

The lady took him in and fed him breakfast in bed