Our very own Gatorhippy makes a contribution this week:

Since the end of the 2010 season, news in the world of CFB has seemingly been filled with nothing but stories of lying coaches, players that play for cash, bowl execs being bribed and other doom and gloom scenarios. While it does make great fodder for the debate of overbearing rule making or loading the gun to take potshots at a rival or hated program, it certainly gets old after a while. Finally, we're treated to a story of heroism rather than one of infamy in the BCS thanks to Greg Auman of the St. Pete Times.

This past FebruarySouth Florida OL Danous Estenor stopped by a campus eatery on his way home for dinner to get a snack (like any self respecting offensive lineman would do) and wound up performing a life saving feat worthy of Superman or the Hulk. Hearing screams for help in the parking lot, Estenor looked across the lot and saw the cause of those screams: a tow truck driver had become pinned under the rear tire of a 1990 Cadillac Seville and the driver's wife and two other men were frantically attempting to get the driver out by lifting the boat of a vehicle off of him. The 300 pound lineman quickly jumped into action.

"I just see his legs," said Estenor, 21, a child of Haitian immigrants from Palm Beach. "The car is crushing him. He's not moving. I'm thinking, 'Oh, God, this guy is going to die.' "

"I tried to lift the car, and when I first tried, it didn't budge. I backed up. I don't know. But I felt this energy come, and I lifted it. I don't know how, but somebody pulled him from the car."

The driver, Pedro Arzola, and his wife couldn't be more thnakful for the heroic efforts of the 21 year old Estenor.

Maria Uribe had been sleeping in the cab of her husband's truck when she heard Arzola, 34 and a father of four, yelling "Ayudame!" — help me. The scene looked "like a horror movie … a lot of blood," she said. The Cadillac's front right tire had run over Arzola's torso and dragged him about 10 feet..."I said, 'God, bring an angel to my side, help me,' " Uribe said. "In Spanish, we say, 'milagro' (miracle). I appreciate (Estenor) doing what he did, saving my husband's life. If nobody helps me, I don't know if he is in the room right now."

Estero's story wasn't believed by teammates until one day after a spring practice when Coach Skip Holtz called him up in front of the squad and read them a letter from the manager of the campus eatery where the incident had occurred praising guard's "quick thinking, willingness to help and strength."

Now Estero fields the good natured teasing from his teammates that ask where his cape is or call him "hero." Danous has also used the incident for motivation and the realization that if he can lift a nearly 2 ton vehicle that pancacking opposing players shouldn't be so tough.

With all that's been shown to be wrong with CFB over the last year, it's sure nice to finally a true hero show up on the scene.

As first reported on AOL Fanhouse, the Horned Frogs will leave the Mountain West to join the Big East in all sports, beginning July 1, 2012. The Frogs first season of Big East football would be the 2012-2013 season.

By some estimates, TCU will be located an average of 1,140 miles from the other Big East football league members.

The move comes amid estimates that the Mountain West will not gain automatic-qualification status in the BCS during the next evaluation window, due in large part to the departures of both BYU and Utah. According to BCS spokesman Bill Hancock, teams that leave a conference take their performance during the evaluation period with them to their new conferences.

In this decade, TCU has been a member of the WAC, Conference USA and MWC.

Additional reports indicate that the Big East has also extended an offer to Villanova to become the conference's tenth football member. The Dallas News reports that Villanova"seems to be dragging its feet about a decision", a move that would bring the school up from the FCS division to FBS. Villanovais currently a member of the Big East in nearly all other conference sports.

If Villanovadoes not join the Big East for football, then the University of Central Florida is expected to receive a formal invitation to join for the 2012-2013 season.

The sixteen Big East conference presidents agreeing unanimously to expand from eight football members to ten football members.

Yahoo's Matt Hinton breaks down the potential candidates, including TCU, Houston, Memphis, and Central Florida.

Invitations to new members could be extended before this year's season concludes.

My two cents? Expansion is a bold, yet necessary move for the viability of the conference. Is dipping into MWC territory (TCU) the best idea? Probably not, but the Frogs are one of the more attractive schools on the conference's radar, given the school's football legacy, recent success, and potential recruiting exposure. There's no question that TCU would be a positive addition, but I still question whether the geography makes the Frogs a viable option long-term.

It will be interesting to watch this round of musical chairs, particularly with the Big 12 currently with ten members for the 2011 season. Will the Big 12 move to block the Big East, taking TCU or Houston before the Big East can? Will the two conferences petition to permit a championship game for leagues with only ten members? Will there be any Big East casualties among the current membership in order to create a more reasonable geographic split? And what is the trickle down? Will the Big 10 or SEC move again to expand to 16 teams? What will further changes in the WAC/MWC/CUSA mean to bowl contracts/other conferences/FCS teams?

Grab a seat... the music is about to stop again.

Is LSU a serious contender in the SEC this year? Based on last night's performance alone, I say no. LSU rolled in the 1st Quarter, but that was against a UNC defense that sat almost their entire starting lineup due to NCAA investigations. And -- once again -- LSU showed their paper tiger hallmarks by allowing the Tarheels to storm back at the end, despite missing their top two WRs and top RB. UNC's TJ Yates is a serviceable college QB, but it's hard to forget that he led the 108th rated offense last year. If this depleted UNC squad can rack up 400+ yards against LSU's best defense, then I shudder to think what Alabama is going to do to the Tigers. My early prediction? LSU has a new head coach in 2011.

Michigan has served notice to the Big 10 Conference - they have a new QB and the boy can play! Oh, wait... that was last year, before 4-0 UM crashed back to reality. I don't know what to make of QB Denard Robinson's game yesterday other than to the kid can definitely ball. Season openers in The Big House have been a little dicey lately for Big Blue, but the Wolverines looked salty much of the day against a well-regarded UConn squad. I'm not on the Michigan bandwagon (yet), but RichRod's triple-threat offense looks to be well on its way in Ann Arbor.

For much of the off-season, the Gator Haters have been pounding new Florida QB John Brantley with the nickname "Cantley", as in "can't measure up to Tebow". Brantley's first start as the UF quarterback was... well... memorable. Brantley single-handily made Miami (OH), who won just one game last year, look like Miami (The U). The QB led Urban Meyer's team to just 25 yards of offense through the first three quarters. The final scoreboard would show an unexpectedly close win, but the box score would include eight UF fumbles (almost all of which were snaps or QB exchanges with Brantley) and just 212 yards of total offense. Game balls have to go to the Florida defense and Redhawks mistakes. The Redhawks committed four turnovers of their own or may have knocked off the Gators. I don't know what Meyer is taking for his heart problems, but he better double up on it for what is bound to be a very intese week of practice before South Florida rolls into Gainesville next week.

TCU may not be the #6 team in the country, but I wouldn't want to have to play them. The Frogs played fast in their 30-24 win over #24 Oregon State. Despite losing their #1 rusher last season, TCU rolled up 278 rushing yards against the Beavers, showcasing surprising depth in the backfield. The Frogs ran from nearly every set and doubled up OSU's time-of-possession. QB Andy Dalton had two ridiculous throws that were picked by the Beavers on strong TCU drives, otherwise this game might have been a blowout. The Frogs ran the option with precision and threw the ball deep with effectiveness. Dalton isn't Terrell Pryor, but he is the leader in wins among active college QBs. With their toughest test now behind them, perhaps the biggest challenge for Gary Patterson is keeping the Frogs focused on their second straight BCS appearance.

Note to Oklahoma: Perhaps this trend of playing Utah teams in the season opener is a bad idea. The Utah State Aggies nearly BYU'd the Sooners. But for some gutsy calls by Bob Stoops and some Sooner Magic, this one would have been another opening-day loss. Stoops promised that QB Landry Jones was "night and day" better than last year. I guess I didn't realize how bad Jones was *last year* because the improved Jones still keyed in on his primary receiver every play and went to him - whether he was open, covered, or headed to the mens' room. The defense gave up over 341 yards passing (421 total yards) to Utah State and surrendered eight plays of 20+ yards. OU faces a bigger challenge next week with Heisman-hopeful Christian Ponder and Florida State on the docket. This just in: FSU's offense is better than Utah's State's. Ponder played just two quarters in FSU's win, but had 4 touchdown passes and missed only two completions. FSU must be licking their tomahawk chops, right OU-Ron?

Show of hands: Who thought the days of Ole Miss losing to a FCS opponent were over when Houston Nutt rolled into town? Yeah? Me neither. J-State played with guts and deserved that OT thriller.

I know it was a win over Western Kentucky, but I think Nebraska might have a little something going with new freshman QB Taylor Martinez, a.k.a "T-Magic". T-Magic went 9-of-15 passing for 136 yards and no INTS and showed big speed on seven carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns, including a 46-yard run on the opening drive. It's early in the season, but watch out for the Huskers in the Big 12. If Texas and OU aren't going to play big this year, Nebraska is going to leave the league as defending champs.

Finally, what's going on at Notre Dame? I know it's the first game of the Brian Kelly experience, but the team seemed to be playing all-out for one another. Given Kelly's track record, it shouldn't be surprising, but if BK can harness the talent at UND, watch out. This team won't make the BCS in 2010, but look for the Irish to make a return in 2011 under Kelly.

That's it for me, boys. Whatchya got?

1. Alabama (55) 14-0 1,469 1
2. Ohio State (4) 11-2 1,392 5
3. Florida 13-1 1,245 3
4. Texas 13-1 1,240 2
5. Boise State 14-0 1,215 4
6. Virginia Tech 10-3 1,052 10
7. TCU 12-1 1,051 6
8. Oklahoma 8-5 1,035 NR
9. Nebraska 10-4 1,001 14
10. Iowa 11-2 952 7
11. Oregon 10-3 940 11
12. Wisconsin 10-3 778 16
13. Miami (Fla.) 9-4 728 19
14. Penn State 11-2 508 8
15. Pittsburgh 10-3 492 15
16. LSU 9-4 476 17
17. Georgia Tech 11-3 455 13
18. North Carolina 8-5 445 NR
19. Arkansas 8-5 438 NR
20. Florida State 7-6 374 NR
21. Georgia 8-5 312 NR
22. Oregon State 8-5 263 NR
23. Auburn 8-5 260 NR
24t. Utah 10-3 169 18
24t. West Virginia 9-4 169 22

Others receiving votes

Cincinnati (12-1) 135; Houston (10-4) 76; Brigham Young (11-2) 66; Arizona (8-5) 65; Mississippi (9-4) 48; Clemson (9-5) 44; Stanford (8-5) 41; Connecticut (8-5) 40; Notre Dame (6-6) 38; South Carolina (7-6) 38; Washington (5-7) 26; Missouri (8-5) 23; Navy (10-4) 12; Oklahoma State (9-4) 11; Boston College (8-5) 10; Michigan State (6-7) 10; Arizona State (4-8) 6; California (8-5) 6; Texas Tech (9-4) 5; South Florida (8-5) 4; Texas A&M (6-7) 3; Northwestern (8-5) 2; Temple (9-4) 2; Central Michigan (12-2) 1; Mississippi State (5-7) 1; Nevada (8-5) 1; Northern Illinois (7-6) 1; Southern Methodist (8-5) 1.

Alabama defends their national championship from last year by starting #1 this year, exactly like Florida did last year. The SEC has six teams in the preseason poll, the ACC has five, the Big 10 has four (not counting Nebraska yet) , the Big 12 has three, the Pac 10 two, and the Big East two.

Here's a quick what we know, what we can surmise....

- Colorado is officially joining the Pac10. It's unclear as to whether the Pac10 intends to hold at 11 teams, but we should expect the Pac10 to seek to add at least one additional member. For years the argument against expansion centered around the round-robin schedule format and - with 11 schools - that format is officially out the window for college football. Adding one more school would give the conference the option to conduct a CFB championship game in some of the largest television markets in the country. Does the Pac10 stop at 12 (Texas??) or expand further with Big12/MWC/WAC teams???

- The Big10 will have 12 teams with the addition of Nebraska. Will they stand pat at 12 teams or expand to 16 as had been rumored?

- The SEC has said that they will not sit idly by if the Big10 expands. Sports Illustrated has confirmed that the SEC has held discussions with Texas A&M. Is that prelude to further SEC expansion? Who, in addition to the Aggies, are on the SEC radar?

- The ACC & Big East seem to be awfully quiet. Are they targets or could a merger be on the table for the two conferences?

- The MWC will not offer membership to Boise State at this time, setting themselves up to be the home of any Big12 refugees. Is the MWC destined to become a BCS conference by default?

DISCUSS!!!

The Big Ten Conference has extended initial offers to join the league to four universities including Missouri and Nebraska from the Big 12, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations.

While nothing can be approved until the Big Ten presidents and chancellors meet the first week of June in Chicago, the league has informed the two Big 12 schools, Notre Dame and Rutgers that it would like to have them join.

The report speculates that another team could be added if Notre Dame agrees to join the conference, taking the membership to sixteen teams.

BUT... both Missouri and Nebraska are saying, "Not so fast my friends."

Missouri has expressed an interest in joining the Big Ten, but the school said Monday:

"The University of Missouri is receiving numerous inquiries related to public speculation about conference membership. MU is a member of the Big 12 Conference and will not respond to speculation about conference realignment. Mizzou continues to be grateful for all the interest shown in and support for the university."

Nebraska also has expressed an interest in jumping to the Big Ten, but refuted the report with this statement:

"We recognize the intense speculation about conference realignment and the possible impact it may have on Nebraska. Both Chancellor Harvey Perlman and Athletic Director Tom Osborne have indicated that the university would consider any opportunity that would advance the interests of the university.

"The University of Nebraska has not been offered any opportunity to move from the Big 12. We remain committed to the success of the Big 12 Conference. Until the Big Ten Conference makes and announces its decision on expansion, the University of Nebraska will have no further comment and we do not intend to continue to respond further to questions or speculations on this subject."

For the record, I don't believe the 810 WHB report for one second. Everyone knows it's Col. Mustard with the candlestick in the library.

At first glance, it would seem to reward teams that played a tougher schedule rather than padding their record with cupcakes. The change would also give bowls more flexibility to create the most interesting matchup, potentially boosting revenues for struggling bowl committees.

Matt Sanderson, co-founder of Playoff PAC, told the San Diego Union Times that the rule could allow bowls with open slots for at-large teams to select power-conference teams with 6-6 records over smaller-conference teams with winning records.

Sanderson points to this season's GMAC Bowl, which took 9-3 Troy as an at-large team. Under the revised rules, the GMAC Bowl could have offered the at-large slot to 6-6 Notre Dame.

While the new provision still needs an OK by the greater NCAA, most rule revisions that make it out of committee are approved.

Suffice to say... no one wants to see a bad 6-6 team stink it up in a marquee bowl game. The reality is that - with new bowls coming on in Yankee Stadium and the Cotton Bowl - there are going to be 70 teams in bowl games this year. If a bowl needs to dig deep and get an at-large team, I would prefer them to create the most interesting game they can.

No disrespect intended, but I would *much* rather see a hypothetical 6-6 Southern Cal as an at-large against Alabama, for example, over a 7-5 Louisiana Monroe.

Just sayin.

The Big Ten is looking at three plans: Stand pat with 11 teams, add one team (hopefully Notre Dame) or make a blockbuster move and go to 16.

"If they go to 16 and one of them is Notre Dame then we've got an entirely new ball game," a conference commissioner told me confidentially.

According to Barnhart, the Big 10 would potentially add Notre Dame and four other Big East teams. It's hard to distinguish if he has any leads on who those teams could be, but Barnhart theorizes that the target list may include Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn.

Of course this opens a whole host of other possibilities....

Where do the other Big East football schools go?

Would some mish-mash of Big East / Conference USA start a new conference?

Would the ACC expand to 16 as well by taking in the Big East leftovers?

Would the SEC expand to 16 to ensure that the conference doesn't lose its considerable negotiating advantage to the new Big 16? And, as Barnhart ponders, who would the SEC invite?

Does the SEC get aggressive and pick up the phone call Texas? That's the one school that would move the financial needle to improve the great deal the SEC already has. And if you take Texas, you have to take Texas A&M because of the politics. Does the SEC take another look at Florida State and Miami and see if those schools would be interested in leaving the ACC for a better financial deal?

It's hard to even imagine an SEC that adds the collective football prominence of Texas, Texas A&M, FSU and Miami. Not to mention its gains in Title IX sports and spring sports such as baseball, track, and golf.

A 16-team Big 10 would definitely be a behemoth, but the ripple effects... *that's* where superconference expansion would get interesting.

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Date/Time/TV Bowl Site Matchup Saturday Dec. 19 2 :30 pm ET ESPN New Mexico Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Albuquerque, NM University Stadium Wyoming vs. Fresno State Saturday Dec. 19 8:00 pm ET ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field Rutgers vs. Central Florida Sunday Dec. 20 8:00 pm ET ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Louisiana Superdome Southern Miss vs. Middle Tenn St Tuesday Dec. 22 8:00 pm ET ESPN MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium BYU vs. Oregon State Wednesday Dec. 23 8:00 pm ET ESPN San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Utah vs. Cal Thursday Dec. 24 8:00 pm ET ESPN Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Honolulu, HI Aloha Stadium SMU vs. Nevada Saturday Dec. 26 4:30 pm ET ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium North Carolina vs. Pitt Saturday Dec. 26 5 :00 pm ET ESPN Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Detroit, MI Ford Field Ohio U vs. Marshall Saturday Dec. 26 8:00 pm ET ESPN Emerald Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Francisco, CA AT&T Park Boston College vs. USC Sunday Dec. 27 8:15 pm ET ESPN Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Nashville, TN LP Field Clemson vs. Kentucky Monday Dec. 28 5:00 pm ET ESPN AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Shreveport, LA Independence Stadium Texas A&M vs. Georgia Tuesday Dec. 29 4:30 pm ET ESPN EagleBank Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Washington, DC RFK Stadium Temple vs. UCLA Tuesday Dec. 29 8:00 pm ET ESPN Champs Sports Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Miami vs. Wisconsin Wednesday Dec. 30 4:30 pm ET ESPN Roady's Humanitarian Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Boise, ID Bronco Stadium Bowling Green vs. Idaho Wednesday Dec. 30 8:00 pm ET ESPN Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Nebraska vs. Arizona Thursday Dec. 31 2:00 pm ET NFL Network Texas Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Missouri vs. Navy Thursday Dec. 31 Time TBA ESPN Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Fort Worth, TX Amon G. 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The 2009 college football season will be capped by exciting college football bowl games, including the 2009 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the 2009 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 2009 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, CA.

The best college football teams from the major conferences, including the Big10 conference, Big 12 conference, Pac 10 conference, ACC conference, Big East conference, SEC conference, and Mountain West conference will face off in college football bowl games throughout December and into January.

If you're looking for updated matchups, odds, insights, betting lines and online wagering for the college football bowl games, please be sure to try BangTheBook.com.

Officials from the SEC have already confirmed their participation to The Birmingham News. Under the terms, the Gator will get "at least" the sixth pick of bowl-eligible SEC teams. The pick position could vary on a year-to-year basis, but more details would be announced once the Big 10 announces its bowl agreements next week.

The Gator Bowl is also in final talks to become part of a broadcast deal with ESPN, leaving CBS, in a move that could signal the end of the exclusive broadcast window that has been previously negotiated for the Capital One Bowl.

With the Cotton Bowl moving to January 2nd, the result of the Gator Bowl agreement means that all three non-BCS games on New Years Day will feature SEC vs Big 10 matchups.

With the end of the ACC / Big East relationship in the Gator Bowl, the ACC and Big East have signed an agreement with the Champs Bowl which will essentially recreates the conferences past Gator relationship in Orlando.

Under the terms to begin with the 2010 season, the ACC will send its #3 selection to the Champs Bowl to face the Big East's #2 selection or Notre Dame. The Champs can select Notre Dame once over the four year agreement if the Irish have seven wins and are within two wins of the #2 Big East school.

With the Gator Bowl now aligned with SEC, the Independence Bowl finds itself as odd-man out in the SEC bowl mix after 15 years with the conference. Instead, the Independence Bowl will look to sign a new bowl matchup between the ACC and Mountain West.

The billboard, located on northbound Interstate 275 just before the I-4 interchange, has the words "BIG 3'' with the "3'' crossed out and replaced by a "4.''

USF's logo is placed next to logos from the Seminoles, Gators and Hurricanes with these words underneath:

"Welcome to the Club Bulls Fans!''

But not everyone is happy with the message of the sign, including USF coach Jim Leavitt.

"We have not won national championships and we have not won conference championships,'' Leavitt said. "What gives us the right to sit there all of a sudden like we've won all these championships and done all this stuff? That's not me. That's never been me.

"I don't want anyone to ever think that here I'm the guy having anything to do with that. That bothers me. … I don't want people to sit there and think I think we're all that – because we're not. We're a program that's trying to get competitive. We're a program trying to build.''

I appreciate Leavitt's humility, however... that's a pretty great billboard for promoting USF football, which is exactly what the marketing department needs to do.

Should they have asked the coach? Sure, but... great billboard.

For the record, if you have flu like symtoms, it's swine flu. That is the only flu going around right now, and seasonal flu is still a couple months away.

Flu or flu-like symptoms have hit programs at Tulane, Duke, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, South Florida, SMU, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Washington State and Wisconsin. Arkansas, the only NCAA team with a porcine nickname, remains ironically immune.

One of the hardest-hit programs is at Mississippi, where nearly two dozen players have been diagnosed with some stage of the flu.

Fresno State is taking precautionary measures to come back home with a win, not the swine flu. That said, the flu shots available now are for the seasonal flu. Shots for the Swine flu will not be available for another month.

Fresno State plays Boise State next week, so a transfer of swine flu could not come at a worse time in their season.
It is likely that every program will fight a bout of flu at some point this season, and once its done it should be done. The question will be who gets hit during the most critical games?

So far no games have been canceled this week, a trend we all hope will continue.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Citrus Sports is negotiating a contract with the Big East that would drop the Big 10 from the Champs Bowl, pairing the first selection of Big East schools (after the BCS selection) with an ACC opponent. The bowl would also have the option to take Notre Dame twice during the four year span.

"I think that it's still right in the final innings, if you will, of the relationships on in our game matchups and something will probably shake out in the next four or five days, a week, I think for everybody," Hogan said. "I think still the result of who we would partner with – the Big Ten, the Big East or anyone else for that matter – is still a little bit in doubt."

The Big East has made it clear that it wants an exclusive arrangement with the Gator Bowl, rather than renew a deal that split appearances in Jacksonville with the Big 12 conference.

Not surprisingly, the Big 10 conference is involved in negotiations to place its number 4 or 5 pick in the Gator Bowl against the number three pick from the ACC. According to SI, the arrangement between the Gator & Big 10 would be exclusive, leaving the Big 12 out of the Gator mix.

Conner proposes combining the eight football schools of the Big East with the twelve schools of the ACC, creating the largest conference to "control the entire East Coast's TV markets, rule the world in basketball with crazy competition and paydays in football and basketball?"

With logistics in mind, let's pull out a map here...oh yes: you could have a four divisions of five: You could put, say, UConn, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse and Maryland in one division; Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and say Louisville in another; Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State in one and then group Clemson, Georgia Tech, South Florida, Miami and Florida State together?

How's the scheduling work?

Well, you would play the other four teams from your division, play another division and one team from the other two for a total of 10 league games and then schedule two non-conference games.

In the realm of crazy ideas, I've heard crazier.

If the ACC folks aren't interested, Connor suggests walking this idea to the Big 10 and adding Notre Dame to form a 20-team superconference, but I see that as the less likely scenario, actually.

If you could rewrite the BCS eligibility to ensure the superconference maintains its two guaranteed spots (BE spot & ACC spot) as well as permit up to two additional schools (as the BE & ACC can already have two each), then you might be on to something.

Anybody up for a Big East / ACC Superconference?