It's been two years since Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany kicked off expansiongeddon and we've yet to go a single month without talk of a team (or teams) swapping affiliations.
Last weekend, Andy Haggard, chairman of the Florida State Board of Trustees, seemed to legitimize some of the smoke surrounding an FSU move to the Big 12. When asked about the potential addition, Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas responded with the semantically slick "Have we had any conversations with Florida State? No."
The uber-connected Neinas, the first man blue bloods call when looking for an elite coach -- he placed Mack Brown at Texas, Urban Meyer at Florida, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and Les Miles at LSU -- has done a remarkable job of turning around the Big 12's fortunes. It wasn't too long ago, the conference, under previous commissioner Dan Beebe, was hemorrhaging teams, having lost Nebraska to the Big Ten, Colorado to the Pac-12 and Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC.
Neinas has reversed the league's run of bad luck and then some. The Big 12 and SEC recently forged an agreement to have their two champions meet in a bowl and some are saying FSU to the Big 12 "is inevitable" with a transition set to begin next month.
And now this:
My sources confirm an agreement in principle has been reached for Clemson to join the Big12. @TruthOrBear247 @theDudeofWV @GSwaim
— Cory Fravel (@CoryFravel) May 20, 2012
Who is Cory Fravel? He works in business development for Simply Green Lawn Care in Atlanta and moonlights as an author on a lightly trafficked Clemson blog.
Does he have something? Your guess is as good as mine. His tweet was retweeted by Clemson's flagship FM station, so there's that. One thing is for certain: public "nos" from those that would know mean very little and the Big 12 looks to be back from the dead.
TRUBISKY TO NORTH CAROLINA. Mentor junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky, a four-star quarterback and Ohio State target, has chosen to become a Tar Heel.
The Buckeyes are in pretty good shape at quarterback next year with four-star J.T. Barrett of Wichita Falls, Texas already in the fold, but were looking to maybe take a second quarterback in the class of 2013. Alter's Malik Zaire pledged to Notre Dame in late March, leading most observers to think Trubisky would be the guy, but the slow play put on by the staff and the prospect of competing with Barrett may have been too much:
"When they got (J.T. Barrett) that told me they weren't that interested and I wanted to the program that really wants me,'' said Trubisky. "I was fair and honest with all the colleges that recruited me, and I realize it's a business but I've got to do what I feel is good for me.''
It will be interesting to see whether Meyer and his staff go after a second quarterback now.
Why is Dan Beebe still smiling?SELF DISCIPLINE = FLAWLESS VICTORY. The Dispatch's Bill Rabinowitz wrote about the demand for players to improve on their own until fall camp kicks off, as NCAA rules ban coaches from giving on-field instruction until camp starts. It's a good thing the players know where they stand heading into summer:
"I tell them exactly where they’re at," Meyer said. "Sometimes it’s very uncomfortable. (But) I’ve always believed one of the worst things that can happen between a coach and a player is some misunderstanding or cloudiness about what’s going on. We try to eliminate that with all the different evaluations."
There's no doubt in my mind that Jim Tressel delivered similar summer assessments during his time in Columbus, but his "and so forth" now likely comes out "you have to get better, and now."
ONE OUT, ONE IN. The fifth-ranked men's tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision to #4 UCLA in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship, finishing the season 34-4. While losing is never fun, it was the seventh consecutive year that the team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the baseball Buckeyes earned a #6 seed in the Big Ten tournament, despite dropping their final three games of the regular season. Ohio State finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten with Illinois and Minnesota, but earned the final seed in the tournament thanks to having a better record against common opponents. As you may recall, this is the same tie-breaker that earned the men's basketball team a #3 seed in the conference tournament despite winning a shared regular season championship.
Action kicks off Wednesday at Huntington Park with #4 Nebraska squaring off against #5 Michigan State at 12:05pm. The Buckeyes will face #3 Penn State at 3:35pm. Tickets are available here.
11W SUMMER OF CODE This summer will be a busy one for us. Not only are we hiring a beat writer, but we're also writing and editing the Lindy's Ohio State season preview magazine. We also have some big plans for the site and we're making incremental progress on those plans.
First up is our revamped category pages. Previously, they looked a lot like the front page with no real soul or mission to them. Now, they convey more information while looking dap. See for yourself: Football, Hoops, Recruiting and Podcast. Click the gray pills next to the byline of any story to see more examples.
We also revamped the profile pages. Here's mine. The new look should make it easier to stalk the comments of your nemesis get to know each other a little better. Be sure to refresh your profile when you get a chance by clicking MY ACCOUNT in the user box in the top right.
We have a few other big initiatives to roll out, so stay tuned.
ETC: Archie's mother passed away at 84... Remember Latwan Anderson... Jon Kitna, high school match teacher... Former players vs EA marches forward... Even gangstas grow old... The eclipse from space... David Cameron and Angela Merkel photographed after Chelsea scored a late goal to beat Bayern Munich to win the Champion's League... Another legendary aquatic coach retires... Pretty much.
