News of a possible resolution coming as soon as Friday has no doubt caused schools such as Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State to hold their collective breathe since none of the four schools really know what would happen to them if the Big 12 splits up.

“Obviously everyone’s concerned about where does this all play out,” said former ISU football tight end Tom Randall. “There looks like there’s been a lot of talk between Nebraska and Texas with everybody else getting caught in the crossfire. I guess it’s kind of indicative of how much money drives college sports.”

The most recent news out of Nebraska is the board of regents have agreed to move to the Big Ten.

This means Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech will more than likely move to the Pac-10. 

Kansas and Kansas State both have their basketball programs to keep them in the mix to move to another power conference if need be.

And Texas legislature is making a strong push for Baylor to be included in the Pac-10’s expansion plans.

That just leaves Iowa State looking for a home.

There’s been talk of the Mountain West, Conference-USA and Missouri Valley but no real talk about getting into a power conference like the Big 12.

Some have called for Iowa State to make the move to the Big Ten. But so far, that does not look like a real possibility.

“If I were Jamie Pollard, and I’m glad I’m not, I’d be in cahoots with my pals at Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska and say, ‘Let’s all go to the Big 10, and let’s be proactive about it,’” said Chuck Offenburger of the website offenburger.com. 

Offenburger also said the Big Ten would be interested in those schools because it would help divisional play and would add St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha and Lincoln to the media markets.

Gov. Chet Culver has been working on getting Iowa State into the discussion of being moved to the Big Ten if re-alignment happens.

Randall was unsure how much of an influence Culver could have on the discussions but still remained hopeful he could help in some way.

“If I truly believed he had the clout to get something done, that would be wonderful,” Randall said. “The question becomes does he have any authority to [get Iowa State into the Big Ten]? It’s an admirable thought because for the state of Iowa, all this talk about Iowa State getting left out of a big conference is not a good thing for the state.”

The possible effects of Iowa State no longer being a Big 12 school could be disastrous for enrollment as well revenue from the athletic department.

Until a decision is made – which could be as soon as Friday – all the Big 12 schools can do is wait and see.