The SEC and Big 12: Strange bedfellows or a match made in heaven?

Well, just when we thought it was safe in the land of conference realignment comes this bombshell from the SEC and Big 12 offices--the two conferences will begin a Rose Bowl-like New Years Day game, beginning in 2014, pitting the top two football schools from each conference in a match-up which likely will take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.  The exception will be if a school, or schools, from either conference is involved in the national championship game.

The news immediately elicited well-crafted statements from Big 12 athletics directors who lauded the agreement and pointed to it as validation of the conference's stability.  Down in SEC country, the P.R. releases were more about the benefit of seeing these top two football conferences compete head-to-head in a game of this magnitude.

This news, along with the soon-to-be-announced details on an improved television deal, does reinforce that the Big 12 came back from the land of the un-living and is one of the four strongest conferences in the U.S.  And that, my friends, means that the Big 12 is now in a position, along with the SEC, Pac 12 and Big Ten, to start the movement toward four "super" conferences of 16 teams each.

The questions on every sportswriter, blogger and talk radio host's mind now is "what does this mean for Notre Dame?" and "what will happen to the ACC?"  The noise of last week about Florida State to the Big 12 now makes much more sense and schools like Virginia Tech and Clemson must be wondering if its time to place their name into the "what if" kitty.  As for the Golden Domers, it has to make sense for the Irish to reconsider the Big Ten possibilities of two summers ago--if that invitation still exists--or to look west to the Big 12.  Culturally and geographically, the Big Ten still is the most logical place for Notre Dame to go.  But, now is the time for the Big 12 to place a major rush on the school with this unparalleled football brand.

There is one small issue though, that the Big 12 must reconcile--playing this game is good for the conference's brand as long as a Big 12 team wins from time to time.  If the SEC dominates this bowl game, then the gap between what is truly the best football conference in the land and the rest of college football only gets more and more embarrassing.

Stay tuned, realignment junkies--this is the first major salvo in the summer of conference realignment, 2012 edition.