Nebraska to the Big Ten by Friday? Let's all take a deep breath...

With conference realignment rumors swirling everywhere you look, the Big XII handed down an ultimatum to Nebraska and Missouri, the two schools most expect to leave: pledge your allegiance by Friday (Ed. Note: new reports say the deadline is the 17th) or move along.

That may very well happen.

The problem? Its the latter.

The Omaha World-Herald is reporting that Nebraska may become a member of the Big Ten as early as Friday. As in two days from now. If Nebraska leaves the Big XII for the Big Ten, that means that Notre Dame will remain as an independent. The Big Ten would likely look to expand to 16 teams, gobbling up the likes of Missouri, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, UConn, or any of the other schools they have been rumored to be interested in. If Missouri and Nebraska leave the Big XII, then most believe the Big XII South joins the Pac-10, meaning the Big XII left with nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble. If the Big East loses any or all of the football programs listed above, then they will no longer have enough teams to be considered a BCS conference.

We all know what conference expansion is all about.
(photo credit: Its All About Quack)

From there theories abound. The SEC raids the southern ACC schools and gobbles up Kansas. The ACC rakes over the coals and picks up the Big East remnants. The MWC and/or C-USA add a couple of high major programs in an attempt to earn an automatic BCS berth.

In other words, Nebraska could be the first domino to fall, creating a shockwave that forever changes the scope of college athletics.

At least that's what the doomsday predictors will say.

The biggest issue here is whether the Omaha World-Herald's report is simply based off of the opinion of an unnamed "executive at a Big 12 school", or if this opinion is, in fact, fact. Its tough to say with all the theories that are bouncing around and the panic that is gripping the state of Kansas, the University of Colorado, Dan Beebe, and anyone at all associated with Big East basketball.

And therein lies the problem.

Much like the fear that gripped many of us during the talk about NCAA Tournament expansion, the idea that such a drastic change can happen -- that programs like Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, and maybe even Notre Dame could be left without a home -- is borderline terrifying. It has us in such a tizzy that a report like this -- with an unnamed source using a quote from Nebraska AD Tom Osbourne as "implicit confirmation" -- sent my twitter feed into hysteria and begins a whole new round of doomsday scenarios, kind of like the first few paragraphs of this very post.

So here is my advice to all of you college sports fans -- take a deep breath. Until someone of importance, i.e. a Jim Delany or a Jack Swarbick or a Tom Osbourne, goes on record as saying "this is going to happen", take all the speculation and innuendo and rumor as just that -- speculation, innuendo, and rumor.

I'm not saying conference expansion isn't going to happen. I don't think anyone is capable of answering that question in the affirmative or the negative right now.

What I am saying is that right now, there is very little that we can unequivocally claim as fact.

Keep that in mind over the coming days and weeks.