With TCU's move to the Big East this past week, the thought seemed to be that the move was made to insulate the conference from the loss of BCS status due to future Big 10 expansion. The rest of the world seemed content in it's current positioning but the chatter seemed to be picking up with the Big 10 stating they would discuss expansion in their December meetings.
Well all that seems for not now...maybe. Those meetings are currently taking place and the question is, is conference realignment dead for the moment?
"Following detailed discussions at today's meeting, my colleagues and I can report that we believe that this process has reached its natural conclusion. We are pleased with the addition of Nebraska and look forward to working with our colleagues there in the years ahead."
This statement released today by Big 10 Chair Michael McRobbie from the Big 10 meetings.
So does this effectively end the jockeying for position or do other conferences continue to pursue expansion? Specifically what happens in the Big 12(-2)? It's been stated that the conference is happy at ten. Still as we go forward and prepare for television contract negotiations, doesn't it seem that having a conference championship might be important? Tough call, but this might signal a relatively calm and anticlimactic 2011.