Well...That’s That, I guess...

Five (or so) days of total conjecture and fun projections go by the wayside in one fell swoop.

During a Big Ten tour last week, Delany told Des Moines Register reporters the league needs to look at adding a 12th team. Why? To increase programming and add a new TV market for the soon-to-be-launched Big Ten Network.

Delany stopped short of saying he was misquoted but said expansion is hardly imminent. He told Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese that he never mentioned Rutgers and Syracuse—two schools included in the Register story as possible Big Ten additions.

"We don't plan to expand, but we analyze it on a regular basis," Delany said Tuesday. "We haven't looked at it since we had those conversations with Notre Dame in the late '90s."

Later, he added: "By expanding, are you a better, stronger conference? We've never been able to answer that [with a] yes."

I realize this debate pops up every 6-12 months, and I had never actually let myself get sucked into the debate—it wasn’t even remotely realistic, so why bother talking about it? Well...this time around, I got sucked in. It felt more realistic to me for some reason. I do wish the conference would just go ahead and expand...simply so this issue stops hanging overhead like a rain cloud. Make your decision, expand, and let the recurring rumors stop, that’s what I say. And it’s all about me, you know.

That said, I’ve learned my lesson—never cross Dave Matter. It’ll never happen again, Dave.