Kansas coach Bill Self held court with the media following Wednesday's scrimmage and spoke frankly regarding the conference expansion that's going on right now. Self's words came before the reports of the Pac 10 poaching six Big 12 teams.
At one point, a reporter brought up the reports that Nebraska would be leaving for the Big Ten and Self said, "I hope what you're saying is not true. We need Nebraska."
He went on to say that Nebraska wouldn't mean the end of the Big 12 -- it wouldn't help -- but he didn't think it would be the end of it.
If it doesn't stay intact, I think we'll be fine, but there is some serious nervousness with me personally that we could potentially be left behind then the landscape of our athletic department changes overnight. That's the reality of it. I don't believe that would happen but we have to be prepared to fight if it does happen.
"Serious nervousness" is the right phrase. Kansas is in serious trouble if the Pac 10 and Big Ten reports end up being accurate. Kansas is one of the teams that would be hurt the most.
Self then acknowledged that football is the real driving force behind this. Football is the real money maker in any major school -- yes, even a school like Kansas with a rich basketball tradition.
I don't know if it surprises me because I don't think this has anything to do with the basketball deal. I think football is driving the buggy on this moreso than any other sport. The other things that go along with that -- television homes and things like that. I've done my research, we have 2.8 million people in this state that I would guess at least 75% of those people support in some way Kansas State or Kansas. So you're talking about two million people that, in some way, the way they look at things will be altered.
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