The Big 10, which had eleven teams now has twelve. Well, at least that’s settled.

Actually, now that the Big 1o actually has twelve teams and can have a conference championship if they please, a lot is to be decided. While a championship game isn’t set just yet, it will be. This is a luxury to have and something the Big 10 has wanted after being left out of the big weekend in past seasons.

Who will get the lucrative sponsorship deal is one issue. The more daunting item to be decided, however, is how the Big 10 will be split to fill this title games. Obviously the league will likely be split in two separate 6-team divisions. After this, things get a little bit dicey.

How do you split an established conference that is adding a very established team? To me, geography is the way to go and it works out pretty well just by drawing a line right down the middle. Well, at least kind of. Here’s how I’d have it work out… new name included.

New Big 10 12 Super Fun Division (Yea!): East vs. West 

Split it up laterally and I think you get a pretty solid balance. You can argue this, but overall is seems to shake out well. You also keep some solid established rivalries in place and likely start some new ones with Nebraska jumping into the fold.

East: Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois

West: Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern

In this scenario, which sets up rather simple if you bust out your map, you get a variety in each. People will likely immediately look at the fact that Ohio State and Penn State are paired. Still, the divisions seem overall pretty balanced. This didn’t require a math formula, just a lil’ Googling.

As an Iowa guy, I LOVE the idea of Nebraska and Iowa going at it every single year. I’m thinking a lot of defense and a giant corn trophy.

Iowa also has pretty solid rivalry ties with Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan – which could be kept intact. I understand realignment shouldn’t be based on Iowa’s rivals, however. The only rivalry that might suffer is Michigan and Michigan State, which could be manipulated by combining both Illinois squads if the Big 10, I mean, Super Fun Division, if so desired.

Random realignment will work but might raise questions about intentions. Splitting things right down the center would result a pretty solid balance. Things will vary on a year-to-year basis (obviously), but overall things look up.

My Advice: Don’t over think this one, Big 10. You’ve got a quality university coming in and a championship game on the horizon. Draw a line down the center (literally) and let the super fun begin.

Texas shed some light on NCAA athletics the past few weeks, and the picture wasn’t bright. Actually, Texas shed some light on Texas athletics over the past few weeks and THEIR philosophy became clear.

Texas threw around their weight and will benefit by playing hardball. They used the Pac-10 for MAJOR leverage and played their “actual” cards close to their chest. They wanted more money, more specifically a new T.V. deal, and while they don’t have one in stone yet, they will soon. Perhaps even sooner than we think. They might even get their own station, only further lubing the giant engine that could.

The smaller schools who were in serious trouble had the Pac-16 formed, can rest uncomfortably easy. Yes, they stay in the Big 12, (which now has 10 teams), but it comes at a price. Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and Missouri agreed to give up their conference buyout payments from both Colorado and Nebraska, and hand them over to Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Texas. They also must endure the embarrassment of being second fiddle, which became painfully obvious here.

This was all about money from the get-go, although commissioner Dan Beebe is putting on his big smile and saying that’s not the case.

“A strong, strong consideration … by the institutions to remain is the association of these schools, the fact that college athletics is very much a regional, regionally supported endeavor, and that it would be a great travesty for this part of this country if it’s major institutions located with conferences that aren’t in this region.”

Regional? This issue was a classic geography lesson, folks. That’s what Beebe says and he’s sticking to it. After all, the man has a job at the end of the day. And if that doesn’t last, (which is very possible), he could be looking for a new job. Perhaps like maintaining the stalls below…

The T.V. deal will come, but all is not right in the Big 12. Kansas and company will remember how they were treated, or should I say mistreated, and will think about these few helpless weeks a lot over the next season. This uneasiness isn’t something that teams, ADs, and other suits will forget, hence Bebee’s job insecurity only weeks after they saved the day.

Texas had control over the entire expansion situations because they wanted more dollars. Their popularity has given them the ability to do just that. The NCAA has basically sat back and allowed teams to control the landscape of the sport so they can net a few more millions. While we won’t debate the control schools could/should have, it is something to note.

In the end, Texas controlled the wheel and they got more money. The smaller schools gave in, and the big-time program prevailed. It’s pretty disgusting when you look back at this entire chain of events. While it’s uncharacteristic to look at a university as a large corporation, I feel that was exactly how this all went down. And after all they are one of the nation’s biggest companies. The only difference, however, is I doubt we will see Bill Self holding a picket sign outside Jayhawk U.

Still, I feel dirty. And it’ll be hard to disassociate Texas from greed going forward. At least they were able to shakedown Colorado and send them packing. I suppose that is worth something. But… (or should I say “butt”)

Do you smell something?

WARNING: If you aren’t a video gamer, you might as well just exit. I don’t normally blog about games, but of course, NCAA 11 is a massive exception.

The demo arrived on Monday for both Playstation and Xbox users. As a college football super-nerd, I look forward to this day each and every year. This year EA has provided a handful of matchups to get your paws on including: Florida vs. Florida State, Ohio State vs. Miami, Missouri vs. Clemson, and Texas vs. Oklahoma. If you haven’t downloaded it yet already, do it now for the love of Jim Tressel’s sweatervest.

After improving greatly with last year’s game, I expected even more improvements even with the demo. After some solid time playing, I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed and the franchise looks stronger than ever. Here’s why…

-The ESPN integration is PHENOMENOL. If you are a college football junkie, you’ll immediately recognize the accurate ticker and instant replay cutaways. These are small changes but grand on the impact scale. I can only imagine the other items that will add to this once we get the full product. Even thought I have my fair share of beefs with the “booyas!” on occasion, these minor additions really added to the authenticity. Oh, and Erin Andrews is back. SHWING

-Running and tackling have never felt this good. A lot was made about the work NCAA has put into Locamation, aka the amount of control and variation the player is given with the ball carrier. I noticed many improvements on both sides of the ball. The success of your jukesor moves will depend greatly on how the tackler is positioned. I had a couple of sick moves with DeMarco Murray, but also got him clocked a few times as well. I noticed the same thing on defense and timed a few killer hits simply by knowing how the runner was positioned. Pretty neat, and long-time fans of the series will be “wowed” by the changes.

-Overall smoother and faster game. Even though this was a demo, it was easy to see that EA really picked things up. The game is so much cleaner and they improved the frame rate making a much faster experience. The quicker game made it feel so much more real. Jarring hits came across better, corners look great jumping routes, and oncoming blitzers get in there very fast. The slower game play was was my knock on last year’s improved product and it’s good to see they addressed it head on. Again, this is only a demo so I imagine the finished product will be an even bigger jump.

-Features away from your system. This was something that was announced last week, and while it wasn’t seen in the demo, this will change the way you play. EA isn’t stupid and they realized that they want you thinking about NCAA even when you aren’t playing. Well, they have their wish and it’s good news for all of us. You will now be able to manage your 60-year dynasties from your computer. Recruit, compare stats, and check out all the things that kill a few hours of work.

I’m not going to offer up a grade; hell, this isn’t a gamer site, but NCAA 11 looks $%^&ing awesome. I have been a fan of the series for a while, but it appears they are finally taking full advantage of next-gen hardware and EA’s ESPN connections. The game drops on July 13th, just enough time to get us jacked for the regular season. I’ll certainly be doing more on the game going forward.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program…