One news item that might not get the notoriety it deserves broke on Tuesday – and while it involves the Big 10, it doesn’t involve expansion. Well, at least directly.

Illinois and Wisconsin have agreed to push their 2011 and 2012 matchups into December, pushing these games back from Thanksgiving weekend. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said this change occurred to give the teams an advantage for the bowl season and give them more exposure leading into matchup selections.

While it’s uncertain if a game against Illinois could do anything to positively change potential bowl matchups, (I’m looking at you Ron Zook), this will shorten the bowl layoff drastically.

To me, this is a prelude of big things to come in the Big 10. It’s obvious that coaches are taking matters into their own hand to more adequately prepare their teams for bowl games. The long layoff the Big 10 has between final conference games and their actual bowl game is absolutely absurd.

Because of the lack of a championship game, Wisconsin, (and perhaps Illinois although they need to do some firing first), are doing what they need to do to put their teams in the right position before they hit the field. If anything was a cry or sign for expansion, beyond everyone and there mother’s saying it’s immenient, this is it.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see other teams follow their lead depending on the scheduling. It makes too much sense to give yourself a  bye late in the season AND cut the bowl wait down signifcantly. Again, this won’t happen overnight but it could happen quickly.

The next few years should offer up some huge changes when it comes to the Big 10. Although you’ll hear plenty of universities names thrown into the mix as possible suitors – this is something that could prelude these changes. Who knows, these moves could be a mute point depending on whether expansion occurs and if it’s fast-tracked or not.

To me, however, this is something to note and watch going forward. While changing a game may seem small in the bigger picture, it is a piece of the bigger picture. This signifies that all is not right in the Big 10 and that there will be changes going forward.

Who, what, when, and how still need to be hashed out, but these are minor details anyway.

To be continued…

After twenty years of outstanding service, FedEx has cut ties with the Orange Bowl.

I know, I know. It’s hard.

But Instead of listening to Sarah McLachlan on repeat while looking at pictures of your favorite ACC team/past Orange Bowl champion, or throwing giant oranges against the wall while you curse at your local FedEX delivery guy – we should try and look at this from a positive point of view.

There’s an opening in sponsorship land, and there’s plenty of damn good sponsors to fill in. It had us thinking about what companies we’d like to see step in and grab this opportunity.

Here’s what we came up with…

Shamwow – Okay, the spokesmen has proved to be a bit of pervert/anus, but the product is undeniable. There could be Shamwow-Offs at halftime, a giant Shamwow towel that provides entertainment in bad weather, and this certainly is something the entire nation could rally around. “You’ll Say Wow Everytime” <—-You’re god damn right we would.

The Jersey Shore – These d-bags were an immediate sensation and will obviously pull in major ratings with a BCS game to show for it. Snooki could provide the coin toss, The Situation could be a guest commentator, and the cameras could go back and forth between the game and their drunken disgrace of a press box. Not my top choice, but I’m intrigued.

KFC – They tried grilled chicken figuring that healthy was the way to go. They then came out with the most amazing piece of unhealthy drunk food ever released. This speaks tailgating and connects to the millions of late night chow hounds out there that want nothing more than something awful after a long day of pigskin. This one actually makes sense., almost too much sense.

Dinglers tobacco – Nothing says baseball, college football like some chaw. I mean, this would be a sponsorship that fans of all ages could enjoy and take part in WHILE they watched the game. Chewing tobacco is as American as warm apple pie. While many of you could argue chewing tobacco’s American roots altogether, just say “Dingler” three times and you’ll see why it made our cut.

T Bar T Mini Horse Farm – I $%^&ing love mini horses, and I KNOW America would also. We could bring out the championship trophy on a mini-horse, and the winning coach could even ride out on a mini-horse as long as the trainers allowed it. I’m not sure the barn has the money to pony (<–Ha) up, but if they do we could be looking at the ideal match.

Justin Bieber – This isn’t as much of a product as it is a person, but the man, teen, child has been trending on Twitter for 3.5 and a half years, aka half his age. This would be the perfect way to attract the female market between the ages of 9 and 15, a vital piece of what’s missing in college football today. He’s friends with Ursher. ‘Nough said.