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DeLoss Dodds is stepping down as athletic director of Texas. The effects of that decision on the future of the Longhorns athletic department will be far-reaching.

Dodds will formally announce Tuesday his plan to leave the job he has held for 32 years and step down as AD at the end of August, 2014. The search for his replacement is already underway and could end as early as Dec. 1.

Whoever is tapped to replace the Texas legend inherits one of the most powerful thrones in college athletics, and could face one of the most important transition periods in school history. We’ll get into that in a moment, though it’s a topic we’ll be talking about throughout the next year.

Dodds is a powerful man with a legacy to match. He made the Longhorns the financial behemoth it has become today and oversaw one of the greatest periods of athletic success in school history. Whoever is deemed fit to take his place has Texas-sized shoes to fill.

By setting these plans in motion nearly a year in advance, he’s providing UT more than enough time to make a smooth transition. That Dodds will stick around as a consultant should help, too. This is a major move and one that must be handled carefully.

Just imagine the résumés that will wind up on UT President Bill Powers’ desk during the search process. He’ll eventually pick from an elite group of candidates, and there’s no doubt he’ll be seeking a leader with the kind of big-picture thinking, sharp judgment and business savvy that Dodds displayed during his long tenure.

In its report breaking Monday’s news, the Austin American-Statesman said West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck is one candidate to keep an eye on. Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick’s name has come up plenty in recent weeks, and more major players will in the next few weeks.

The successor could face a critical dilemma whenever he or she is finally chosen. What will be done about the coaches of three of Texas’ most important programs?

Mack Brown knows he has to win and win big this year, and a 2-2 start didn’t make life any easier. The Texas football coach has long said he has a tremendous relationship with Dodds and Powers, who have backed him throughout a trying month for Longhorn football.

“I’ve got the two best bosses in the world,” Brown said days after Texas’ loss to BYU. “They get it. They understand. I have great conversations with them. They put me in a position to run it, they want me to do it, and I’m responsible for it. That’s what I’ve got to do. DeLoss has been around a long time. I don’t have knee-jerk bosses. They get it.”

Well, one of those bosses is now leaving. Who knows how much success in 2013 will be enough to impress the next boss, or whether Brown’s sub-.600 record since 2009 will simply be too much to overcome.

Will the next AD be prepared to clean house? He or she could face similar big-picture decisions with Longhorns men’s basketball and baseball.

The legendary Augie Garrido hasn’t taken UT to a College World Series in two years and didn’t make the Big 12 tournament in 2013. Rick Barnes hasn’t advanced past the second round of the NCAA tournament since 2008 and didn’t make the field last season.

These are worst-case scenarios, to be sure, but not unrealistic ones. The candidates for Texas’ athletic director job will be well aware of these potential first-year decisions.

There are many other reasons why Texas must find the right person for the job. The truth is, there’s really no replacing Dodds. This day had to come eventually, though, and evidently the countdown to that day begins Tuesday.

IRVING, Texas -- Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds made headlines when he championed an eight-team college football playoff Thursday at the Big 12's spring meetings, despite the four-team version still being more than a year away.

"It's a baby step. It's a good step," Dodds said. "I'm kind of an eight-team person."

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby wasn't biting on the possibility of Dodds' preference becoming reality.

"I don’t see us expanding to eight any time soon," he said.

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck was also asked about Dodds' comments, but he's not looking for any bracket expansion, either.

"Let’s give four a shot and see," Luck said.

Luck agreed with Dodds' assertion that the debate about the No. 5 team -- aka the first team not invited to the playoff -- would carry more weight and be more heated than a debate about a No. 9 team, but stopped short of saying that would be enough to expand the playoff.

"It’d be interesting to go back and look the last 10 years at who would have qualified and how big of a gap there was between 4 and 5, and then 5, 6, 7, 8. Is there a discussion about 8 and 9?" he said. "A lot of years, it seems like there’s three or four really good teams, and then there’s a little bit of a dropoff, but I’m not sure I’d advocate eight at this point."

Bowlsby, meanwhile, argued that now -- just as the game's power brokers have become comfortable with altering the postseason again -- wasn't the time for further tinkering that might have far-reaching implications.

"One of the reasons why the playoff was eventually voted in was because people who had been opposed to the playoff got comfortable around the fact that it could be accomplished without decimating the bowl environment that has been so good to us over the years," Bowlsby said. "And if you add another four games to this, then you’re going to be playing into the middle of December and over the holidays and irreversibly change the bowl environment and therefore, the postseason."

The Big 12 still hasn't officially welcomed TCU and West Virginia.

That day will arrive on July 1 later this year. Until then (and even after), there will be plenty of discussion on what the Big 12 should do.

Few Big 12 administrators have endorsed either option publicly, but West Virginia AD Oliver Luck made his thoughts clear in a recent interview with ESPN.com.

"My recommendation would be to look long and hard at moving up, whether it’s to 11 or 12, particularly when you look at how big the SEC is, how big the ACC is going to be, the number that the Big Ten and the Pac-12 are at," Luck said. "I think it would be wise to take a long hard look at that because there is some strength in numbers."

The big question for the Big 12, though? Will new members bring in enough revenue to warrant inclusion? Selling expansion to the league's 10 members won't go over all that well if the league can't prove that the annual conference revenue paychecks won't get significant cuts.

So, what do you think the best option is? Vote in our poll.

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck spoke with media earlier today after the university and Big East announced the Mountaineers would be leaving for the Big 12 on July 1, its intended departure date since announcing it had accepted an invitation to the Big 12 in late October.

He was not permitted to discuss terms of the agreement between WVU and the Big East as part of the settlement.

PODCAST
West Virginia AD Oliver Luck shares his thoughts on the Mountaineers' transition to the Big 12, his insight into the conference scheduling process and more. Listen

Here's a bit of what he had to say.

Big 12 revenue sharing formula is set

We discussed this back when TCU and West Virginia first announced their intentions to leave the Big East for the Big 12, but Luck confirmed it again on Tuesday.

In Year 1, both schools will receive 50 percent of an expected $18-19 million payout. Those payouts will grow along with the league's backloaded television contracts, but TCU and WVU will receive 67 percent of their payout in 2013.

"Where they move in the next 3-4 years, I’m not sure I can share," Luck said of the growing television payouts. "I don’t know."

In 2014, they will receive 80 percent of their television money before jumping to a full share in 2015, the duo's fourth year in the league.

Texas A&M and Missouri will receive full shares of SEC revenue in their first year in the league.

Beer will be sold at games in Morgantown

Visiting Big 12 fans and concerned Mountaineers don't have to wonder anymore. Beer will be served in the stadium.

"The Big 12 does not have any rules or regulation regarding beer sales, and our intent is to continue to do what we have done," Luck said. "It's certainly subject to any decision the board of governors may make."

WVU hosts Baylor, Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma next season.

Backyard Brawl will likely go on hiatus

West Virginia's chief rival is Pitt, but like the Lone Star Showdown and Border War in the Big 12, it'll be ending after this recent round of realignment.

Unlike the Big 12 rivalries, though, it may soon be resumed. It's "pretty obvious" it won't be played 2012, but Luck was hopeful it could be continued in the future.

"It’ll be difficult to schedule," he said, citing the nine-game conference schedules in the Big 12 and Pitt's impending new home, the ACC. "I certainly would welcome a conversation with [Pitt AD] Steve Pederson."

The Big East, an eight-team league, played just seven conference games.

No culture shock for the Mountaineers

Luck reiterated how well he thought West Virginia fits in the Big 12 culturally.

"As our fans begin to get to know the schools that are in the Big 12, they'll find schools that have a lot of commonality with us," he said. "They're large public institutions, many of them with enrollments the size of West Virginia's. There are great land-grant universities, in some cases serving largely rural constituencies. You think about Iowa State or Kansas or Kansas State. Great research institutions, similar things that our academic and research folks will find with the Big 12. I think as we go into the conference and start to have shared experiences in all the different sports, our fan base will really warm up to what's really a tremendous conference."

When West Virginia defiantly announced in October that it would leave for the Big 12 as soon as possible, did anybody really think the Big East would be able to stop it?

We are talking about the Big East, after all, a league that never seems to win. A league that seems to get taken advantage of at almost every turn. There is a reason the Big East has the reputation of being a league that gets kicked around. West Virginia just did it again.

The Big East should have had the advantage in this fight, what with the conference bylaws that specifically state any departing school must wait 27 months before leaving. Allowing TCU out of the league without a wait had something to do with West Virginia pushing forward. But there are clear rules that every member of the Big East agreed to follow, rules that did not apply to TCU as an incoming member.

Pitt and Syracuse had no problem agreeing to abide by the rules when they announced they were leaving for the ACC back in September. West Virginia had problems, because it was inconvenient. And the way the school went on the offensive from the outset essentially sealed the eventual settlement that was announced Tuesday.

West Virginia filed its lawsuit first, claiming the Big East had failed in its responsibilities to remain a viable conference. It wasn't too long before the Mountaineers accepted Big 12 membership when athletic director Oliver Luck made this comment during a television interview Oct. 1:

“Let’s be honest, the reason TCU wants to be in this league so badly is that they think it’s an easier path to the national championship than it is going through Norman, Okla., or Austin, Texas, or Stillwater, Okla., and playing some of their regional schools out there. So we’ve got some quality schools that are very interested in getting involved, including both Air Force and Navy. It’s no secret there. I think both of those institutions are academically excellent, very important nationally and also, I think we all can agree, they play some pretty good football.

“In fact, I would trade Air Force or Navy for Syracuse every day of the week in terms of the quality of the football program. No disrespect, but that’s just an observation I think most would agree with who understand football.”

TCU officially left the Big East on Oct. 10 for the Big 12. West Virginia bolted Oct. 28. You cannot mean to tell me the departure of TCU was the tipping point for West Virginia. TCU had never played a down of football in the Big East.

The argument was a convenient one to make in court. But it also was the first one to be filed, clearly giving West Virginia the upper hand. Its arguments, whether they were thin or not, hit first. The Big East filed its own suit in Rhode Island shortly thereafter, arguing about its specific bylaws that should be followed.

Bylaws, shmy-laws, right? The Big 12 then went on the offensive in the form of interim commissioner Chuck Neinas, who said, "The Big East gets on planes and flies all over the country inviting other schools. But they raise hell when West Virginia wants to come to the Big 12?"

Luck made it clear in several more interviews that he didn't care what the Big East did and his school was outta here. Then West Virginia went ahead and canceled its nonconference game against Florida State to make way for nine Big 12 games.

The Big East's response -- nada. The league remained mum on the subject, as West Virginia and the Big 12 talked freely. Commissioner John Marinatto declined to answer questions because of the litigation. Athletic directors refused to comment publicly, for fear of speaking out of turn. Privately, some are upset about the way the entire situation has been handled, firmly believing West Virginia had taken advantage of the Big East once again.

It is obvious that West Virginia did not want to be in the Big East a second longer. But this was not about the Big East holding onto West Virginia because of some vendetta against the school. It was about holding a team to bylaws it drafted and agreed to, in large part to fill out its schedule and not have gaping holes everywhere.

Yes, there was a domino effect when Missouri did to the Big 12 what West Virginia just did to the Big East. But in the conference pecking order, you kinda figured the Big 12 would win this fight.

The Big East is sticking with the 27-month notice in its bylaws for teams to leave, and West Virginia has filed suit to be in the Big 12 by July 1, 2012, its stated date of exit/arrival.

Interim commissioner Chuck Neinas told reporters at a reception in Morgantown that he believes the Mountaineers will be able to join the league next season.

Neinas, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and university president James Clements were peppered with questions about the lawsuit and the timetable on the Mountaineers' Big 12 debut.

"I'm not concerned because I trust the two gentlemen on each side of me, that's why," Neinas said. ...

When Neinas was asked what happens if the Big East is successful in delaying West Virginia's quick exit, "then I guess for the first time in college football history, we'll have home and home" schedules, he joked. "Oklahoma State told me they don't want to play Oklahoma twice."

On a serious note, Neinas said: "We fully expect West Virginia will be there."

West Virginia officials understandably declined comment on the suit, but Neinas noted that the Big 12 must have a 10th member in 2012 to fulfill the inventory for the league's television contract. He also added that the league is prepared to move forward with 11 teams if Missouri stays in the Big 12 and West Virginia comes to the league next season.

He also reiterated that if Missouri leaves, West Virginia would not simply replace them in the prepared Big 12 schedule.

See more here.