David Boren, you’re in a tough spot.

After more than an hour and a half of secret discussion Monday afternoon, the OU Board of Regents announced the OU president had the authority to act for the university in all conference discussions.

What wasn’t announced was the significance of the regents’ decision.

No, not that Boren now has the power to keep OU where it is or to pack up and head elsewhere (westward, ho?) — although that’s significant, too. The real significance is Boren now holds the fragile Big 12 in the palm of his hand.

On Sept. 2, Boren told media members that OU would not be a wallflower during the conference-realignment dance. Turns out, he wasn’t kidding.

Not only is Boren refusing to take a backseat, he has reached out and snagged the wheel. Any chance of conference stability here in the Heartland comes down to one man.

Hear those cries in the distance? That’s the Iowa States, Baylors and Kansas States of the world pleading with Boren. Do the right thing! Preserve tradition! Keep the Big 12 intact!

I get it. I really do.

These schools need the Big 12. They need the conference paycheck. They need the partnership with OU, Texas and the league’s big dogs.

So I understand their cries. I understand so much that I can’t help but come back to this point: Boren is tasked with doing what’s best for OU. Not the Big 12 Conference. Not any other school. Just the University of Oklahoma.

The Big 12 should be the best place for OU — but times have changed. More accurately, circumstances have changed.

For most of the decade, the Big 12 has consistently been one of the top two or three conferences in the nation. Then suddenly, the league is left without Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M (once Baylor gives up its fight).

This isn’t the Big 12 anymore. This is a sinking ship, a burning house, a wild frontier. Nobody is safe here anymore. There’s no security in all of this uncertainty.

Since realignment fired back up this summer, Boren has said stability is at the top of his list in considering conference affiliation. He reiterated this Monday after the regents meeting.

“Obviously we do not want to continue to have these kinds of situations where our membership in a conference is still undecided, (where) the stability of the conference has to be revisited every year,” Boren said.

So now it’s up to him to figure out where the Sooners will be most secure.

After the regents bestowed this burden on Boren, he told the board he was prepared to take action in the best interest of the university — and he plans to do so swiftly.

“This grant of authority will give me the ability to work with other, other institutions — other presidents — to move quickly,” he said after the regents meeting. “I’d still love to see a result sooner rather than later.”

At this point, it seems the talk is just political. Is there any surprise as to what Boren wants?

“I would say that the principle focus, beyond the Big 12 itself — which is still a focus for us — is the Pac-12,” he said.

Read between the lines — or more literally, read around the throwaway line about the Big 12 — the principle focus is the Pac-12.

With Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech, the Pac-12 would work nicely. But even if Texas resists a move out west, the Pac-12 still looks like a better option than the conference formerly known as the Big 12.

The Pac-12 intrigues Boren. He likes the idea of aligning OU with academic stalwarts such as Stanford, UCLA and Cal-Berkeley. He likes the idea of a bigger financial windfall. But maybe most importantly, he likes the idea of putting this conference drama in the rearview mirror.

I like the idea of a viable Big 12 Conference. I like the idea of a thriving league in the middle of the country. I like the idea of holding on to tradition.

But more than anything, I like the idea of OU looking out for OU.

And I bet Boren does, too.

Chris Lusk is a journalism senior and the editor in chief of The Daily. You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisLusk.