During the year 1553 in the quiet hamlet of Salon-de-Provence, France, a man sits at a desk, stroking a long beard and occasionally indulging in opiates imported from the far east.
He sighs wistfully, glancing out the window. He knows not why the prophecies come to him. All he knows is that he is but an instrument of the fates, a Boethian conduit from which they direct his quill. Others see naught but the spokes; Nostradamus sees the entire wheel.
Suddenly, a flash! The Seer for All Time staggers at the vision laid before him. A man, a great man, sitting chiefly amongst peers. He has a plan to unite the world against a dire threat. But the man needs allies. Strong allies. And to this end he shall bring in peoples from all regions of the globe. But there will be conspirators. Oh yes, legions of them. They will seek to form their own alliances, to make themselves stronger than before.
Nostradamus gasps for air. Will good prevail? Will those long lost in the wilderness find their way to the light? Or will the conspirators become stronger than the allies? Could an ancient enemy emerge from the shadows to wreck havoc once again? It cannot be known. The future is... cloudy. The old prophet regains his focus, slowly. Some elements of his vision were very strange indeed. A sauce of peppers and tomato. A footed ball. Some sort of knitted waistcoat. Shaking these disturbing images away, Nostradamus picks up his instrument. Nervously, his hand trembling like a kitten in the rain, he begins to write of a day far in the future when all shall come to pass.
51 The people of Dacia, England, Poland And of Bohemia will make a new league: To pass beyond the pillars of Hercules, The Barcelonians and Tuscans will prepare a cruel plot.
That day has arrived. UPDATE- Boise State has accepted an invitation to the Mountain West Conference. UPDATE 2- The Board of Regents for Nebraska is currently meeting behind closed doors, and you can see a stream here of where they will presumably make the announcement that Nebraska is coming to the Big Ten. UPDATE 3- Harvey Perlman, Chancellor of Nebraska, is now speaking and has confirmed that Nebraska is coming to the Big Ten, as well as detailing the process that this entailed. Nebraska wants to begin Big Ten play in 2011. UPDATE 4- Tom Osborne pretty much laid down the law and accused other Big 12 schools of negotiating in bad faith while trying to keep the Big 12 together, saying some had talked to 3 other conferences during negotiations. This led to Nebraska to renew talks with the Big Ten. The Board of Regents has just voted, and they are unanimous. Nebraska is as good as official. Viva Huskers.
WHAT WE ARE ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, 100% WITH CHERRIES ON TOP CERTAIN ABOUT That Led Zeppelin rules. And that the Big Ten Network is making money hand over fist, which has started off this whole thing. And that Colorado has officially joined the Pac-10. And that Nebraska's Board of Regents (wow, that sounds official) will meet today and discuss the option of them leaving the Big 12 and joining the Big 10. And that Missouri has NOT been extended an invitation to join the Big Ten. Yet.
WHAT WE ARE 99.99999% SURE OF, LIKE A TWINKIE TWO SECONDS PAST THE EXPIRATION DATE That Nebraska is coming to the Big 10. Sources keep repeating it, Osborne has apparently already let it slip to staffers, and frankly they would be stupid not to come. They are a perfect fit, I personally would love to play them on a regular basis, and I think the majority of Big 10 fans would agree with me on this. Another thing is that the Pac-10 will swoop down on the the Big 12, now that Colorado has been added to the fold, and send offers to most of the rest of the heavy hitters in the conference. Nebraska being gone destabilizes the whole conference and the Pac-10 wants to expand. Gonna happen.
WHAT WE ARE LESS CERTAIN ABOUT, BUT WOULD NEVER SHOW IT OUTWARDLY BECAUSE THAT'S A SIGN OF WEAKNESS Basically everything else. Luke did a great job of summarizing the possibilities for the Big 10 yesterday, and the domino effect from this is going to be brutal. Notre Dame? Rutgers? An SEC power play for the ACC which in turn causes the destruction of the Big East? And of course the whole Texas question is still up in the air. If Texas really is a package deal with Tech and A&M, it's hard to believe that they'll be coming to the Big Ten, and would instead be more inclined to go to the Pac-10 if they can't save the Big 12. T
his has recently become a huge "if," however. If the schools in the Big 12 somehow manage to stave off a poaching attempt and save the conference, expansion might end with Colorado and Nebraska. A lot of it hinges on what Texas decides to do, and some of it hinges on what Texas "Quisling" A&M decides to do.
No one can say for sure as of yet exactly what will happen (and we will likely all get into the predicting game sometime in the near future), but for today, this post will serve as a repository for the various updates and news items that are sure to come out of the college world in the near future. Until then, keep watching the skies.
