Helpful glossary helps you understand NCAA reality

With conference realignment the rage as the major college football powers move closer to elite superconferences, it can be difficult to keep up with all the machinations and verbiage.

I mean, one day Texas is in the Big 12 and another it might be headed to the Pac12 while just having talked to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh and Syracuse play Big East games on a Saturday and declare allegiance to the ACC on Sunday morning.

All the while Connecticut, Rutgers, Texas A&M, Missouri and Oklahoma are among those desperately shopping themselves for new conference homes.

But as difficult as it is to keep up with who is poaching whom or sneaking out the back window, harder still can be deciphering the language that surrounds all the double dealing.

So, we offer a fan’s realignment glossary as an aid to better understanding these turbulent times:

>> Academics: A word that gets slung around a lot as window dressing but really plays no part in the dealings.

>> Active discussions: Euphemism for a deal that is in the works.

>> College president: Institutional official with an ability to piously expound on the lofty priority of academics while throwing elbows in the fight for cash or working a back-alley deal.

>> Collegiality: A disappearing virtue little employed these days in connection with the double dealing comings and goings of teams from one conference to the other.

>> Conference commissioner: Bag man for member schools.

>> Exit fee: The dollar figure placed upon breaking one’s promises and commitments to jump to greener pastures.

>> Expansion: Outflanking rival conferences by cherry-picking somebody else’s members.

>> Exploring options: The process of selling an institution to another conference for the highest market price available at the time.

>> Geographic footprint: Formerly meant teams in one localized geographic region with commonality. Now means a land grab with TV households in mind irrespective of time zones, mileage or any previous relationship. Example: Texas Christian has extended the geographic footprint of the Big East.

>> NCAA: An impotent bystander with neither the influence nor inclination to stand in the way of all the machinations.

>> Peer institution: Somebody just as greedy and devious as we are and, therefore, someone to keep an eye on at all times.

>> Philosophical opposition: A moral dilemma that can be overcome when more cash is placed on the table.

>> Realignment: Sounds better than what it really means, which is a chance to re-line the pockets with more lucre by changing allegiances or members.

>> Student-athlete: The player on whose back schools reap the benefits of fatter TV deals and coaches cash in on multi-million-dollar contracts.

>> Superconference: A cartel that seeks to gobble up and control as much cash and postseason access as it can for its members.

>> Television contract: The ultimate prize for colleges and driving force behind the realignment frenzy.

>> Traditional rivalry: Once-popular concept about to be steamrolled by the dash for cash in conference realignment. Example: Nebraska vs. Oklahoma.