Everybody's Favorite Game

Big 10 Commish Jim Delaney spoke cryptically about what might go into possibly conference expansion discussions, here.

While fun to think about, Big 10 Expansion has become everybody's favorite game to play these days- I honestly wonder if Delaney has been dropping these broad hints just to keep sportswriters across the nation slobbering in anticipation of what and when an announcement will come as well as trying to guess just who's going to be invited to be in the Big 10. My updated thoughts are as follows: (I like to play this game too, from time to time.)

1. More Than One School. If they can get Notre Dame, I think it'll only be one school, but I don't think they're going to get Notre Dame. If they can get to 14 schools and have two more waiting in the wings to get to 16, they might make Notre Dame an offer they shouldn't refuse, but I still don't think they're going to get Notre Dame.

2. Go West, Young Man: I know JoePa is all hot to go east, but I think getting the Conference to 14 is best accomplished by a daring raid on the Big 12 North. With the exception of Nebraska it's a massively uneven division that can barely hold its weight against the Big 12 South. Nebraska and Mizzou would the likeliest candidates, but Iowa State is not out of the question, for the sake of geographical continuity. If they wanted to just go west, they could pick up Kansas and K-State to get the conference up to 16 and really f**k the Big 12 up good.

3. Look To The East: if television networks are driving this, then Rutgers is a fairly safe bet. Though how much it will open up the NYC television market is questionable to me. And Pitt could be another choice.

4. What The Hell, Let's Go All East: Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, Maryland and (if ND says no at that point) West Virginia.

What Do I Think As Of Today: Nebraska, Mizzou, ISU, Pitt, Rutgers.