Kansas University and Kansas State University are in an unenviable position as talk swirls around them about possible defections from the Big 12 Conference.

While the Pac 10 Conference reportedly is courting six Big 12 schools, and the Big 10 is looking at three others, the two Kansas schools are sitting on the sidelines with no suitors in sight. Rather than taking a proactive approach to their future conference affiliations, they are being forced to stand by while other schools make the decisions that will make or break the Big 12.

KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and KSU President Kirk Schulz both are working the phones and encouraging other Big 12 schools, especially Missouri and Nebraska, to stick with the conference. The Kansas Board of Regents formally voiced its support of keeping at least a core of the Big 12 together.

The sad and embarrassing reality is, however, that Kansas can’t do much besides be a cheerleader at this point. It has a huge stake in what the other schools decide, but it has extremely limited power to influence those decisions. KU no longer has the clout it used to enjoy in the old Big Eight Conference and even in the early days of the Big 12.

If all the schools, or even most of them, whose names are in play decide to leave the Big 12, KU and K-State will be in a tough spot. It’s a little uncomfortable — and a sad state of affairs — to see that decision so firmly out of Kansas hands.