A future conference Armageddon?

It's finally here: Armageddon.

No, not Dec. 21, 2012, the day many predict as the end of the world, as it's the date the Mayan calendar ends.

The beginning of the end for some of the second-tier conferences in NCAA Division I-A sports has started, and the creation of super conferences has begun.

When the Big 12 Conference imposed its Friday deadline on Nebraska and Missouri to declare their intentions as to whether they will leave for another conference, it set in motion a series of events that could forever change the landscape of college sports.

The Pac-10 Conference is also doing its part to upset the conference teeter-totter.

Reports Sunday stated all Pac-10 university presidents and chancellors gave conference commissioner Larry Scott the go-ahead to expand. Schools like Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado could be making the jump from the Big 12 to the Pac-10.

It's a lot to follow, I know. But, this is only the beginning.

Should this scenario play out, all hell will break loose.

The Big 12 will be left riddled with holes and would have to completely regroup or disban entirely, leaving the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and the aforementioned Pac-10. Oh yea, and the Big East Conference, too.

The Pac-10 would quickly become the new super-conference, and other BCS conferences would have no choice but to follow suit or be left behind.

The Big East would most likely dissolve in this scenario because the Big Ten, ACC and SEC would devour teams like Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia in a heartbeat.

West Virginia, in this scenario, could accept a bid to the ACC because of the similar academic standards it maintains to other ACC schools as well as its proximity.

Yes, WVU to the SEC has a nice ring to it, but WVU just is not an SEC-caliber school.

Another team that is a lynch pin in this entire process is Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish, which has its own television deal with NBC, could essentially control the entire scenario because of its location in the middle of the country, its superb academics and its brand value.

Just think what adding Notre Dame to any conference could do for its overall value.

Unfortunately, with expansion teams like Boise State, BYU, TCU and Utah still would not get a fair shake at a BCS title, which they so equally deserve.

With the creation of super-conferences, these teams would be pushed even further onto the back burner.

With all this being said, it's quite clear the NCAA and its conference plan for expansion is all about the money.

Let's be honest, have you heard any other sport outside of football being mentioned when discussing expansion?

Imagine what the creation of super-conferences will do for college basketball and March Madness.

Are we missing a correlation between the expansion of the conferences and the expansion of the NCAA Tournament?

What about baseball, women's basketball or even the Olympic sports that most universities have?

Maybe we will get answers to these questions sooner rather than later.

Or, maybe the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012 for a reason – maybe it predicts the end of all this conference clutter.