. . . Dodds says absolutely nothing which could be termed a lie or a falsehood if someone went back and took a look at this statement in a few months or years if Texas did accept an invitation from the Big 10.

Here are all of his words from the interview, spliced together:

“[The Big XII is] working. I like it . . . . We’re always going to be looked at. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. That’s a good thing . . . . I think it’s been a great conference for us and we’ve been good for the conference. Before the [Big 12], we were struggling with recruiting and struggling with all kinds of things. The Big 12 has brought us stability, kept Texas kids in Texas . . . . All the sports have been good to us. We’ve built up some good rivalries. It’s been good for us . . . . I don’t know who [a replacement school] would be . . . . People around the country kind of pick on us because we don’t have ‘tradition.’ I don’t think we need that. I think we’re pretty darn good. You don’t have to be 100 years old to be good . . . . That’s the year 2015 we’ve got the leverage [in TV negotiations]. It will be the Big 12’s turn.”

There is no unequivocal denial in interest in moving to the Big XII in those words. These words are pretty much what you would expect Dodds to say right now, no matter what he’s thinking (or what Powers is thinking). And until I hear such an unequivocal denial — something like “Texas is never going to the Big 10 under any circumstances whatsoever” — then the door remains open.

And if people want to misinterpret these words (like the color guy in the hoops game last night, who said that Dodds “shut the door” on relocation talk), that’s their own fault.