The Big 12 is meeting with *everyone* for conference's upcoming expansion

Happy Monday, 'Nova Nation! Over the weekend, it was revealed that the Big 12 is planning to meet with 17 schools for a maximum of four spots (with two spots still being the odds-on favorite). That is utterly ridiculous, especially since only 5-6 schools make any sort of sense. It's very much like a 'croot "cutting" their list to 15 or 16 schools. You know who you're looking at. Stop wasting everyone's time.

But hey, at least we're moving closer and closer to the next domino to fall, and then we get to see what else shakes out from that.

And now, the "news."

Here are all 17 expansion candidates the Big 12 is meeting with | SBNation.com
There might only be a few actual favorites, but the conference is listening to a whole lot of pitches.

Let’s rank Big 12 candidates by food bribes they could use | SBNation.com
Memphis tried to get in the Big 12 with ribs. What can everybody else do?

Chicago Cubs' Matt Szczur: From obscurity to star | Cubbies Crib
The Chicago Cubs Matt Szczur was once nothing more than a fifth-round prospect trying to make it. Now it may be hard to get rid of him.

Air Force put fighter plane shark teeth on its awesome new football helmets | SBNation.com
The Falcons' special-edition helmets are a nod to their own history.

Ryan Lochte and three other members of the U.S. swimming team were robbed at gunpoint in Rio | SBNation.com
This is a very strange story.

It would be impossible for Michael Phelps to keep swimming, but Michael Phelps is impossible | SBNation.com
After over a decade of unmatched achievements, Phelps has made it quite clear in the past few days that he is ready for the mundane. There is not a question he can’t answer without referencing his fiancée Nicole and his son Boomer, and his eagerness to be husband and a dad rather than a swimmer who happens to be married with a kid.