The first wave of the trumpeted collegiate conference expansion appears to be complete, and so far the game of musical chairs has produced only two seat changes.
Nebraska is joining the Big Ten, and fellow Big 12 member Colorado is headed to the Pac-10. These leagues will presumably worry about their names, and whether to change them, later.
For the Big Ten's sake, though, let's hope the movement is over.
Because without Notre Dame, which obviously is content to stay put as an independent, and an unlikely radical shift of Texas to the Big Ten, the one-shot addition of the Cornhuskers is much better than a multiple-school shift that could have watered down the league and potentially destroyed the Big East and/or Big 12.
With Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and now Nebraska, the Big Ten has become the second-best football conference in the country behind the SEC.
Nebraska adds another legitimate heavyweight in terms of tradition and national appeal and, other than Notre Dame, may have been the best available prospect with mutual interest.
Often-criticized for being plodding, like its playing style, the Big Ten's methodical calculation has now brought Penn State in 1990 and Nebraska 20 years later. Not shabby.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany says the league will wait at least six months before deciding whether to proceed further. That would take us through the football season.
Look, though, for a prompt shuffle in terms of a new schedule, effective in 2011. Whereas it took Penn State, announced as a member in 1990, more than three full football seasons before it was granted a league schedule (1993), the Big Ten drawbridge will open faster for Nebraska.
A two-division breakdown and a championship game probably will be arranged for 2011. An East-West format could look like this: East - Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue; West - Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern.
Penn State fans would no doubt like to see the Cornhuskers replace Michigan State as the Lions' traditional year-end opponent, but that will depend on the divisional alignment.
Aside from Notre Dame, initial Big Ten expansion speculation centered around not only Nebraska but Missouri, too, and perhaps the addition of a couple of Big East teams from a pool of Syracuse, Rutgers and Pittsburgh.
You can be sure the folks at Pitt are now breathing a little easier.
The Panthers stood to lose a lot had the Big Ten passed over them and snatched a couple of their Big East brothers because as good as Pitt basketball has been, this expansion is about football and could have left Pitt searching for an affiliation.
To that end, the Big Ten helped itself without hurting too many other teams and conferences, at least for the immediate future.
Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/neilrudel.
