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On the field, the Big 12 has tumbled into a precarious spot this season. For the first time since its inception, the conference doesnt have a single team ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll. As a result, the Big 12s chances of putting a team in the playoff already seem to be dire after just three weeks.Beyond that, expansion has dominated the conversation since late spring. But after months of contemplating it and weeks of officially exploring it, where does Big 12 expansion stand with a key Oct. 17 board meeting looming?Heres the latest:The Big 12 stages in-person meetingsTwo weeks ago in the Dallas area, the Big 12 held meetings with the 11 candidates that made the conferences first round of cuts, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.com. Those meetings began with SMU on Tuesday and ended with South Florida on Friday evening; Air Force, BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Connecticut, Houston, Rice and Tulane had their turns in between.Each session, with commissioner Bob Bowlsby and a small group of Big 12 officials, lasted roughly two hours, and the expansion candidates were limited to bringing up to five representatives, who also had to be employed by the schools in some capacity. The majority brought their president, athletic director, board chair and general counsel, though USF, for example, was able to include Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, who is a faculty member of the USF Muma College of Business.The schools spent most of those two hours pitching their individual strengths to the conference: SMU, its proximity to the rest of the league; Houston, its red-hot football program and its ability to help the Big 12 with the Houston TV market; USF and UCF, the upside of their top-20 TV markets and massive enrollments. As the Associated Press first reported, USFs showed a video that included testimonials from former NFL coach Tony Dungy and pro baseball player Tino Martinez. Said Vinik in the video, I guarantee, when the Big 12 comes to this area, and when they make USF part of their community, we will all be 100 percent behind them, and they will never regret that decision.At the conclusion of each meeting, however, the expansion candidates were given little indication of the Big 12s next step or even if there will be an actual expansion vote on Oct. 17. So far, its essentially been radio silence.One person with knowledge of the expansion process termed it as a weird limbo.Houston surgingThe Cougars have picked an opportune time to put together one of their greatest runs in school history. Houstons 33-23 Week 1 win over Oklahoma provided only more evidence that the Cougars would strengthen the competitive profile of the conference. On Nov. 17, Houston will have a prime opportunity to play its way into the playoff when third-ranked Louisville comes to town.Houstons upside as a Big 12 member, however, has strangely become perhaps the biggest knock on its candidacy.Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel and Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy spoke out against inviting Houston to the Big 12, arguing that the Cougars would steal away too many recruits from them.Anyone thats not in Texas will have a more difficult time recruiting Texas if another Texas school gets in this league, Gundy said in August.One Big 12 insider from a non-Texas school pointed out that having another game in the state of Texas would be one way in which adding Houston could actually help recruiting.Still, it seems the support for Houston remains lukewarm among the non-Texas schools, even as the Cougars have produced stellar ratings this season in the Houston TV market.Whether Houston ultimately gets in could hinge heavily on whether the four Big 12 Texas schools coalesce around the Cougars candidacy.There figures to be significant political pressure on the four Big 12 Texas schools to do just that. Texas governor Greg Abbott has already tweeted that expansion is a non-starter without Houston, and was spotted wearing a Cougars polo to the Oklahoma game.Just this week, Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick told KRIV-TV in Houston that This is about Texas schools. I dont really give a hoot and a holler about UConn or some school in Florida or anywhere else. Texas schools oughta vote for other Texas schools.Much of this is political posturing from elected officials angling to boost their appeal with Houston voters while improving their relationships with Houston lawmakers. That doesnt mean the pressure wont be real.The pressure will also be on Texas chancellor Bill McRaven and, by proxy, Texas president Greg Fenves, to resolve the sticky 300-acre land deal in Houston. Texas wants to build a satellite facility there, but has faced stiff opposition from Houston officials and lawmakers. At this point, the best way Texas could placate Houston would be to help get it in the Big 12. Fenves tweeted in July that he supports the Big 12 considering the Cougars. But it remains unclear whether Texas will actually go to bat for them when it counts.In the meantime, the best way Houston can help itself is to keep winning on the field. It would be difficult to envision a scenario in which the Big 12 announces expansion and leaves out the school on the brink of making the playoff.Will anything happen on Oct. 17?Since the league announced it would begin exploring expansion in July, Big 12 insiders have been pointing to the Oct. 17 board meeting of presidents and chancellors as the likeliest point at which a vote on expansion could take place.Oklahoma president and Big 12 board chair David Boren, however, seemed to turn that timetable on its head when he spoke to the media, including ESPN.com, after the schools regents meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week.Im not certain there will be a decision at the October board meeting on expansion at this time, Boren said. Were going to look at every way in which we can make the conference stronger and better. But Im not sure the automatic answer to that is expansion.The situation is still pretty fluid.Bowlsby has been pushing the presidents to move forward with a decision on expansion as quickly as possible. Theres no sense in dragging it out once we know all the pieces to the puzzle, he said this summer.But if Borens comments were any indication, Bowlsby might not be able to persuade the Big 12 presidents to commit to a vote Oct. 17. If no vote is taken then, the expansion process could drag on through December, as Iowa State president Steven Leath suggested last month, and possibly beyond -- a frustrating proposition for many in the league.We knew who all these schools were before this process, said one Big 12 insider.Yet even after Borens most recent public comments, multiple Big 12 officials still believe that Oct. 17 will most likely be Decision Day for the conference -- one way or the other.How will the Big 12 reach consensus?One of the most under-discussed challenges to this undertaking is still ahead: How will the Big 12 actually conduct its expansion vote?In previous realignments, conferences were asked to vote yes or no on only a couple of schools. Considering the conference still has a pool of 11 candidates, the Big 12s situation is far more convoluted.Will the league first vote on whether to expand, then the number to expand by, before finally deliberating on the individual schools? Or will the league go straight to voting on schools, one-by-one? Boren acknowledged last week that the Big 12 still had not settled on a method. Bowlsby has no voting power, but he could make recommendations that could help streamline the process.Any expansion candidate, however, will still need a super majority, or eight votes, in order to get an invitation. Considering so many options remain, it could prove difficult for any one school to get the necessary votes.Nobody agrees on the teams right now, one Big 12 official noted.What remains to be seen is how the self-inflicted pressure of making this process so public could affect the decision-making. After all of the pomp and circumstance, could the Big 12, in the end, really vote not to expand? That is certainly a possibility, underscored by Borens recent comments.I would just caution you and say, I would not take expansion as a given, he said. Im not saying there wont be expansion. But Im not saying it can be automatically assumed that there will be expansion.Some inside the conference who oppose expansion, however, fear the presidents will feel compelled to vote in favor of expansion, even if theyre unsure that its the right move.As one industry insider put it, I dont know how they could go through all this and not expand.BYU losing steamMonths ago, BYU was viewed as the frontrunner in any Big 12 expansion scenario. With a passionate national fan base, strong football tradition, top-35 TV market in Salt Lake City and solid academic credentials, BYU checked every box of the criteria the Big 12 said it would be analyzing.But the LGBT communitys opposition to BYU because of its honor code has turned BYUs candidacy toxic, as one Big 12 insider characterized it.Their appeal doesnt outweigh the baggage, even though the appeal is great, another said.Earlier this month, Iowa States student government passed a resolution opposing a BYU Big 12 invite, noting that BYUs discriminatory policies and practices are inconsistent with the values of the Big 12.Last week, the ACC announced that it would be moving all neutral-site conference championship games out of North Carolina as a result of the states controversial House Bill 2 law that limits the legal protection of the LGBT community. That included the ACC removing the football championship game from Charlotte.BYU makes all the sense in the world from a football perspective, said one Big 12 source.Given the current climate, however, that might not be enough for the Cougars to get an invitation, at least without some give on its honor code.The moment of truth?Interestingly, Boren noted last week that expansion could hinge on whether it adds to the long-term stability of the conference.But if the Big 12 doesnt sign an extension of its grant of rights the way the ACC did this year, the leagues long-term stability will remain dubious, at best. The contracts currently binding the conference together expire in the 2024-25 academic year.So far, neither Texas nor Oklahoma has indicated it would agree to a grant of rights extension under any scenario. Without the extension, the clock will continue to tick on the Big 12, regardless of whether it expands or not, as the Longhorns and Sooners will be free to leave for greener pastures when the rights expire.If the two parents dont commit [to signing the extension], said one industry source, what does that tell you?Said another: The Big 12 could be close to the end.Bowlsby has said that the Big 12 will continue to fall further behind the SEC and Big Ten if it does nothing. But expansion alone wont catapult the Big 12 back onto the same plane, either.That could be one reason why the Big 12 is struggling to agree on the next step. And why anything could be possible in the coming weeks. Willson Contreras Jersey . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. 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INDIANAPOLIS -- Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade believes that no matter how many different things LeBron James accomplishes in his career, trying to surpass Michael Jordans legacy is a fools errand.No, its not possible, Wade told ESPN with a laugh. Its not possible.Wade?is in a unique position within the context of the comparisons between James and Jordan. He won two of his three NBA championships playing alongside James -- one of his closest friends -- with the Miami Heat.?As a kid growing up in the Chicago area, Wade was a Bulls fan and watched Jordan rack up six championships, earning the respect of millions around the globe.The only thing you can do is tie it, Wade said. Theres no 19th hole.The golf reference came about after Wade was reminded of a 2012 interview with ESPN in which he used a golf analogy to compare James to Jordan.I dont know if [James] has the ability to surpass him or not, Wade said at the time.?Thats yet to be seen. My version as LeBron being on par with Michael is this: Theyre both on the golf course. Michaels on the 18th hole; LeBron is somewhere on like the fourth hole. Hes got a long way to go, but hes on par to get to the 18th hole.I think everyone knows that [James] is a phenomenal, phenomenal playeer.dddddddddddd Hes one that we havent seen, with the makeup of a 6-8 guy who runs as fast as any point guard, jumps as high as any center, and has the ability that he has to do so many things. But Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, thats who everyone shoots for. So its going to be hard to surpass that.Four years later, Wades stance hasnt changed much.I think last year -- not only in my eyes, but in a lot of peoples eyes -- really put him ... hes on the 15th hole right now, Wade said of James. And hes on his way, for sure.Wade said he and James havent discussed the comparisons to Jordans legacy, but Wades sentiments match up with comments James has made in terms of how he is perceived among the games greats.My motivation, James told Sports Illustrated over the summer, after winning his third title, is this ghost Im chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.Wade wore a big smile as he entertained the comparison questions.You cant go past it, Wade said of Jordans legacy. How can you? Thats as great as it gets, man. The only thing you can do, like I said, is be A-1, A-B. Theres no way higher. ' ' '