More College Football Craziness

We interrupt "Death in the Game" week because we might have the death of a conference. College football's possible impending realignment is changing faster than I can possibly keep up with, but here's some news.

Source: Nebraska regents clear path to Big Ten

Nebraska has allegedly decided to join the Big Ten and could make such an announcement as early as Friday. The Big 12 supposedly can't survive without Nebraska.

This is all still dependent on how the Big Ten's negotiations go with Notre Dame. If ND agrees to join, the Big Ten wouldn't add any more teams and Nebraska would stay in the Big 12. Quote:

In the ultimate irony, the only way Notre Dame may be able to avoid the super conference scenario is by doing what it least wants to do: give up its independence and lucrative NBC/Comcast contract and join a conference.

Delany and the Big Ten seem to have manufactured just the right circumstances to back ND into a corner and hope they blink. The question is, will they?

If they don't and Texas joins the Pac-10, the Big Ten could end up the biggest losers in this scenario, even if they add Nebraska: Can Big Ten score without ND or Texas?

Ironically, two of the schools that first set all this in motion by wanting to leave the Big 12 (Colorado wanting to join the Pac-10 and Missouri the Big Ten) might get left out of the realignment all together. Colorado's recent sanctions for poor academic performance coupled with the Texas legislature's efforts could put Baylor in the Pac-10 instead of the Buffaloes. Meanwhile, Missouri seems to be getting the cold shoulder from the Big Ten as it focuses on larger low-hanging fruit.

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UPDATE: This doesn't really qualify as "the first domino" falling, as the Big 12 can still survive without Colorado, but still...

Colorado accepts invitation to join Pac-10