If I were NCAA Dictator...

I'll admit, I'm kind of excited to see a little jumbling of conferences in the NCAA. I realize there are some old rivalries that may never be the same, or even exist anymore, but I think it will be interesting to see how it all ends up, kind of like this NBA off-season (can July 1 come sooner please?).

As of right now, Colorado to the Pac-10, Nebraska to the Big Ten, making it the Pac-11(?), and leaving the Big XII with 10 teams and Big Ten with 12. Anyway... It looks like Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, OK and OK St may end up in the Pac...16? I still can't figure out why on earth Nebraska leaving makes the Big XII crumble, but it is what it is.

So, what next for ?

Obviously, the conference will be up to the schools, and we'll see how important basketball and football are to them. But...if I were an NCAA Dictator (and more interested in basketball than football), I would poachify the following teams to create a new conference:

The Big East has a ridiculous amount of teams for basketball, many of whose sole claim on "east" is that of being this side of the Mississippi. Therefore, I would send DePaul, Notre Dame and Marquette to join the Big XII leftovers in a new...Heartland? conference. In addition to those, I would steal Memphis (the lone star in Conf USA). THAT would be an awesome basketball conference, and a fair football.

In a perfect world, I might go a step further and throw in Louisville and Cincinnati too. That might take away the Big East's BCS spot, but do they really deserve it anyway? Maybe they could beg BC and Miami to join them.

So there you have it; introducing the Heartland Conference. Take that Big XII!