Jayhawk Nation-

A lot of things I've been hearing lately about the future of college sports have bummed me out.  On SI today, they point out that the expansion to 35 bowl games will now allow 5-7 teams to get in:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/04/28/bowlgames.losing.records.ap/index.html

Next, this week's Sports Illustrated has an in-depth look at conference expansion.  It looks at three scenarios, all of which end up dooming the Big 12.  In fact, their "Big One" Scenario looks like this:

• Big Ten adds Misery, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers, and Notre Dame.
• ACC adds Cincinnati, Louisville, Syracuse, and West Virginia
• SEC adds Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and A&M
• Pac 10 adds Colorado and Utah
• KU, KState, and ISU essentially join the MWC.

While this scenario is highly unlikely, one thing's for sure- conferences are going to consolidate and increasingly take away power from the NCAA.  What will happen with those on the outside looking in? Could KU really be one of those? Is there anything they can do about it to protect themselves?  It seems generally accepted at this point that football is the sole driver of all this movement.  If that's true, why are schools like Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois suddenly power brokers?

The "Elites" of college football are increasingly consolidating their power.  The NCAA continues to water down its product in the hopes of skimming a couple more dollars.  So yeah, I'm pretty bummed out right now. So I turn to you, fellow Rock Chalk Talkers- what are you optimistic about when it comes to Kansas Athletics? What scenario out there could actually be a good thing for KU?

Ten years from now, why will it still be a great day to be a Jayhawk fan?