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In a fairly dramatic press conference, NCAA president Mark Emmert and Ed Reed, chairman of the Executive Committee and president of Oregon State announced sanctions which Penn State has agreed that the NCAA is imposing in response to the criminal acts of Jerry Sandusky and his four immediate superiors.  The sanctions will damage the football program without a doubt but the team was spared the death penalty supposedly because the Executive Committee and Emmert believe that the sanctions being imposed were more damaging to the Penn State than losing an entire season.  Let's look at the sanctions and see.

1. Penn State must pay a $60 million fine, which will go to fund research into the prevention of child abuse as well as compensating the victims.
2. Barred from post-season play for four years, which presumably will also include the Big Ten championship game.
3. Scholarships are reduced by 20 total over 4 years, and 10 per year initial scholarships each year for 4 years.
4. Placed on probation for five years, which unlike most probations has some teeth in it.  Penn State has specific requirements with which it must comply including the implementation of all recommendations in Chapter 10 of the Freeh report, which deals with compliance and integrity, the hiring of an independent integrity monitor and host of other matters dealing with compliance and reporting.
5.Vacation of all wins since 1998, effectively dropping Paterno from number one in career wins to number six and making Bobby Bowden's day in the process.
6. All players are allowed to transfer and play immediately without having to sit out a year as is normally required.

The sanctions are significant but contrary to what Emmert kept repeating they are far from being unprecedented.  Basically, the NCAA went back to its playbook from the sixties and the seventies when the SEC and  Southwest Conference (you remember that outlaw conference don't you - the one that gave birth to the only imposition of the death penalty).  In fact, Emmert didn't go far enough even in keeping with his apparent desire to not impose the death penalty.  He failed to ban Penn State from appearing on TV and from receiving any proceeds from conference TV contracts.  The Big Ten has yet to announce its sanctions so that may be coming but I doubt it.

I would have preferred the death penalty along with the rest of the sanctions, as Emmert and Reed both indicated that the Executive Committee's deliberations made it clear that had the committee voted to impose the death penalty it would have also imposed additional sanctions. In my mind, that would have been an even larger statement and coupled with the scholarship reductions would have crippled the program for probably the next ten years or longer.

SEC examining forming its own network again (CBSSports)

The WPS calls it quits, drawing down the curtain on premier level women's professional soccer in the US (footiebusiness)

Manchester United may have lost the Premier League but it's still tops the Brand Finance 50 most valuable soccer clubs worldwide (Brand Directory)

BMO Harris Bank acquires naming rights to Milwaukee's Bradley Center for more than  $1 million per year for six years (Journal Sentinel via Sports Business News)

In the wake of last season's epic brawl, Cincinnati and Xavier agree to move the Crosstown Shootout to a neutral site for the next two years (ESPN)

Dicier Drogba wins Champions League but says he will leave Chelsea when his contract ends this summer (FoxSoccer).

Fresh off an arrest for going 93 m.p.h. on a suspended license, Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman sued For $18 million alleging false imprisonment in Cuba caused by Chapman (SI)

Buffalo Bills receive NFL approval for five year extension of deal to play games in Toronto. (Buffalo News)

Belmont Stakes reserved seats sold out in five minutes (Sports Business Digest)

Djokovic drops Sergio Tacchini and set to sign with Japanese company UNiqlo, which is attempting a major expansion into the US.(Darren Rovell)

CVC sells a 21% interest in Formula One to Blackstone and others in a deal valuing F-1 at $7.2 million exclusive of debt ahead of planned IPO (Reuters)

Conference roulette rolls on with VCU leaving the CAA for the A-10 and Big West open to Boise State joining along with SDSU (ESPN)

FAMUBoard of Trustees suspends marching band for at least the upcoming school year in the wake of band hazing death (Orlando Sentinel)

Key to the Northwestern soccer dynasty may be summer camps in the Northeast (NYT)

Bodemeister is 8-5 in post 7; I'll Have Another at 5-2 in post 9 . My money is on Went the Day Well and Creative Cause with I'll Have Another in the Exacta box.  Bodemeister may just be too tired.(WaPo)

For MOT soccer fans, a guide to the Champions League Final (Forward.com)

Remember Skechers toners endorsed by a Kardashian? Surprise, FTC says they won't make you thinner (The Post Game)

Big XII and SEC champs to meet in bowl game if not in football playoff: "good for the game" (Statesman.com)

Boise State remains committed to Big East (Hartford Courant)

Saints Vilma sues Roger Goodell for defamation over bounty case (SI)

The post Derby honeymoon didn't last too long in either Derby City or at Churchill Downs. By Monday morning, the bloom was already off the roses, except for shareholders of Churchill Downs.

Derby sets attendance, on track and all source wagering records, remarkable for a race with less than normal pre-race buzz (DRF)

TV ratings were also up; third most watched since 1989 (Business First)

$CHDN reports record revenue and net earnings for first quarter (DRF)

Full Preakness field with plenty of newcomers awaits Derby winner who arrived at Pimlico yesterday (WaPo)

Groom found dead in stall at Churchill Downs on morning after Derby in apparent homicide (C-J)

Winning trainer has a somewhat less than illustrious past on the racetrack; winning owner's fortune arose from sub-prime lending and legal loansharking (Eric Crawford)


In news unrelated to the Kentucky Derby:

Stop me if you've heard this before, NHL announces tentative deal to sell Coyotes (ESPN)

Why college football should be banned, and he's not totally wrong (WSJ)

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto is forced to resign (ESPN)

Big XII presidents agree to 13 year, $200 million TV deal with ESPN/Fox (CBSSports)

With TV contract settled, new commissioner and long-term stability, will the Big XII now look at expansion and do we get to play more of the who goes where game? First bet still Louisville; most intriguing new rumor: Clemson and Florida State  (KC Star)

Rise of American Football in the Holy Land (Post Game)

 Reality TV comes to Liverpool (NYT)

 Conference rouletter rolls on; this time around it's the conferences other than the Big Six.(CBSSports)

 Perhaps baseball's best closer ever career may be coming to an end due to freakish accident (NYT)

Sacramento's continuing arena problems put Kings closer and closer to moving to Seattle (Seattle Times)via (SBN)

 X Games expanding to six cities on three continents for 2013 (Sports Business)

 Tanking, Incentives and the NBA (Sports Law Blog)

 Allegations against Billy Hunter of the NBPA and what it tells us about US labor law and player unions (Concurring Opinions)

 Minnesota governoralleges secret deal between Vikings and Republican legislators over new stadium for Vikings, paranoia? (Forbes )

Historic Calumet Farm, breeder of nine Kentucky Derby winners is sold for $35 million (C-J)

Another rivalry bites the dust; this time Kentucky-Indiana basketball game won't be played in dispute over location. Louisville would like to take Kentucky's place (abc11)

Should the US and Canada follow the rest ofthe world and ban race day medication? (C-J)

A classic long form look at the Derby from Louisvillian Hunter Thompson (Grantland)

Rosie Napravnik becomes first female jockey to win Kentucky Oaks aboard former Ky Governor's filly (DRF)

From the father of speed figures, it's Bodemeister in the Derby (DRF)

The NCAA Board of Directors approved a proposal to allow schools to distribute up to $2,000 a year or the full cost of attendance, whichever is less, to student-athletes in "head count" sports, i.e. men's and women's basketball, football, and those in " equivalency sports" who reach the full value of a scholarship. Amazingly, the NCAA Board, which is composed of member university presidents actually followed through on a pledge to reform its policies in student-athlete friendly ways,

While the full cost of attendance change is likely to garner most of the headlines, the Board passed what potentially could be a more impactfull change, finally authorizing multiyear scholarships up to the full term of eligibility. This should help stop the oversigning problem which plague the SEC., and the disgraceful practice of wholesale running off of players that seem to accompany every coaching change. Additionally, the presidents voted to allow institutions to provide aid to any athletes who came back to school to complete their degrees following exhaustion of of their eligibility. They also raised the Academic Progress Rate required for postseason eligibility. Taken as a whole, this was probably the single most student athlete friendly day ever at NCAA headquarters. The presidents made good on a number of commitments they had made over the years and NCAA President Mark Emmert made a significant down payment on his credibility as a student athlete friendly reformer. Much is left to do, but we must always stop and recognize progress when it occurs. I've bashed the NCAA on many occasions for ignoring the welfare of the students in favor of the sports administration complex (similar to the military industrial complex.). These steps don't end the arms race, don't begin to reign the outrageous salaries being paid to coaches, or the sale of the programs to corporate sponsors, but they took significant steps toward making the student athletes lives better, both while at school and, importantly, after they have left without a degree. For that, they deserve our praise.

Before I dive into the topic of the post, let me first say a word or two about the absence of recent posting.  I realize it's been a while and I want to apologize for that.  A combination of health issues, all now since resolved, thank you, and family matters have consumed my time for the last couple of months and I just haven't been able to devote any time to the blog.  However, with most of that behind me, I hope to resume posting on a much more regular basis.


In my absence, it seems that college athletics is engaged in another round of conference roulette, touched off, in part, by another ACC raid on the Big East, grabbing Pitt and Syracuse.  Has there ever been a more insecure conference commissioner than John Swofford?  This time, of course, the SEC joined in the fun early with Texas A&M longing to get out from under the huge shadow cast by its Austin rival, jumping from the Big XII.  The final shoe has yet to drop as Missouri is readying itself for a move to the SEC, with the Big XII then having to decide whether to just replace Missouri and stay at ten members or invite three schools and go back to 12.  By all reports, there is no consensus yet, although the Big XII presidents meet this week.

The Big XII decision has ramifications for the Big East, which is trying to salvage itself with a plan to expand to 12 football members by adding Boise State, Air Force and Navy for football and Houston, SMU and UCF for all sports.  Since Louisville and West Virginia are widely thought to be two of the three leading candidate to join the Big XII, all the Big East can do now is wait it out.

Aside from your favorite school may be playing next year or in 2013, there are two interesting undercurrents to all of this "ring around the rosey".  One is the unseen hand of ESPN; the other is the potential effect this maneuvering may have on the NCAA's and its members' tax exemption.  Let's take ESPN first.  To accept what I'm about to discuss takes a little bit of belief in conspiracy theories.  While I'm no usually prone to believing in them, this story has too many coincidences not to give at least a little credence.  First, a little history.  Within the past year or two,  three major conferences have signed new television agreements for football and men's basketball: the ACC, SEC and Big XII.  Both the ACC and SEC signed very lucrative long-term deals with ESPN, which created branded "ACC on ESPN", and "SEC on ESPN" networks among other enticements, like hundreds of millions of dollars.  The Big XII spurned ESPN and signed with Fox, its previous media partner.  Earlier this year, the Big East, in the final year of its existing ESPN contract, rejected an almost $1 billion contract in favor of negotiating next year, when all the other conference deals will have been completed.  Leading the charge to reject the contract was Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg.  The two conferences most adversely affected by all of the school movement so far:  Big XII and Big East.  One further bit of evidence is the comment by the ever lovable athletic director at Boston College, who, in discussing the admission of Pitt and Syracuse, said "It�s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do."He later apologized and said he misspoke but what would you expect him to do?

The tax implications of the realignment game are potentially far more impactful than any monetary gain a new conference and new TV contract may provide.  For more than five years, Congress has been "interested" in the tax exempt status of the NCAA and the athletic programs of its member institutions.  For any number of reasons, members of Congress have thought that athletic programs sporting budgets  in the tens, and even hundreds in the case of Texas and Ohio State, of millions and making decisions based on business necessity not the welfare of the student athlete were being operated as businesses and should be taxed accordingly.  In 2006, the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to the NCAA asking it to respond to various questions and justify its tax exemption.  While the issue has been on the back burner since, comments like these from our voluble friend at Boston College certainly don't help the NCAA cause.  When schools are jumping to leagues with questionable geographic and academic ties (see ACC or Boise State to the Big East) it becomes increasingly easy for the opponents of the NCAA to question its right to a tax exemption.

When the primary justification for a conference switch is to access a greater pot of TV money, or even to gain access to the BCS, without regard for the welfare of the student athletes who must do the far flung travel while also keeping up with classwork, can it honestly be said that such a move is furthering the academic mission of the university. Before you say football is only once a week and they generally charter planes at this level anyway, remember that most of these moves are all sports moves requiring the Olympic sports, which do not have the budgets enjoyed by basketball and football, to make the same trips.  Olympic sports generally travel commercial if they must fly and those are all day trips in both directions.  We all know how pleasant the commercial flying experience has become.  Athletic department actions which are so blatantly commercial, as jumping conferences for a share of TV money, may go a long way towards solidifying the argument that the NCAA and its member institutions are not engaged in activities that further the academic mission of the school, but are commercial enterprises that deserve to be taxed like ones.  Should that happen, not only would there be tax to pay, but donations to the athletic department would likely lose their charitable deduction, significantly decreasing the attractiveness of many season ticket packages.  As has been the case so often in the past, when it comes to college athletics, decisions are often made for all the wrong reasons or are not carefully thought through.  Athletics seems to attract emotional decision-making more than any other aspect of university life and, as a result, the entire enterprise of college athletics as we know it may be placed in peril.

I feel compelled to say something about "The Vest's" departure from tOSU since it has dominated the discussion in American sports this week.  It has even overshadowed to a significant degree the opening of both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals (the opener proving just how exciting a 0-0 game can be  the only goal was scored with 16 seconds left in regulation), So, where to begin?

I was not terribly surprised at what was his likely forced resignation, something which I believe should have happened months ago. This was far from Tressel's first brush with the NCAA.  He had problems at Youngstown State, for scholarship and recruiting violations.  After his arrival in Columbus, there was Maurice Clarett, followed by a steady stream of players, with the most prominent and public being the suspension of  Troy Smith for the Fiesta Bowl following the 2004 season, for accepting $500 in cash from a booster. President Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith were much too lenient when it first beacame known that Tressel had lied to the NCAA and to his bosses.  With his compliance track record and for the lies, he should have been immediately terminated.  It would have been in the best interests of the institution and set a better example of how a school should react when something like this happens, and rest assured it will happen again, somewhere.  It wasn't until the Columbus Dispatch was about to go public with stories concerning additional violations that Gee finally decided to act, assuming as I do, that the resignation was not voluntary.  I'm also convinced that Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited and Chair of the Board of Trustees, saw the continuing controversy as adversely affecting the school's major capital campaign that President Gee was forced to act.  This did nothing for his reputation either, but solidified the feel who went to B1G Ten that tOSU is really a SEC in witness protection.

Zach Price  in a piece for Sports Illustrated, links the Terrell Pryor portion age limit, which, in this case, would be the stricter NFL limit once the players and owners sign a new collective bargaining agreement. While I don't really buy the connection, I do believe that the age limit is a bad idea from the colleges standpoint, particularly in basketball.  The NBA and NCAA should adopt the baseball limit at all.  Baseball allows a player to be signed right out of high school, but if he doesn't sign a pro contract before he enrolls, then it's three years before the MLB can get him.  The advantages of this rule are: (1) it gives the student an option not to go to college if that's really what he wants, (2)the colleges know that they have a player for three years and can better build a team, (3) the athlete knows he must be a diligent student since he will want to stay eligible for three year, thereby significantly raising the change that college will actually be meaningful for him.

That said, my real answer is to eliminate athletic scholarships altogether.  But wait, then all of the disadvantaged kids who had trouble getting through high school would not be able to go to college. That would only be true for those kids who are marginal students.  For everyone else, there would be adequate financial aid available on the same basis as it is to the rest of the student body.  It has worked in the Ivy League and Patriot League (although the Patriot League has recently crossed over to the Darkside) and works in Division III.  Now, I know that Ivy League and D-III schools don't have stadia that seat 1000,000 and aren't on TV all the time, but that is what college athletics should be.  Instead, we all have gifted the top five major professional leagues, free of charge, a minor league system that would cost billions to replicate.  It is a system that has been designed to enrich its administrators and coaches at the expense of the colleges and universities and on the backs of the student-athletes.  Real and lasting reform of the NCAA won't take place until system and the role of the big five major leagues is addressed.

Tonight, we have a national championship game that in some sense presents the dilemma facing the NCAA in microcosm.  On the one hand, you have UConn, a relative power in the game representing the Big East, a BCS member conference, the best conference in basketball and one that is deep in bed with both ESPN and CBS.  It is presided over by a coach who had his hand slapped by the NCAA for "failure to maintain an atmosphere of compliance" earlier this season.  The NCAA punished Calhoun for violating one of its core principles - the institution and its leaders are to be held accountable for compliance, i.e. institutional 

Conference realignment is far from over just because the Big Ten announced that it was satisfied stopping at 12 members.  In fact,  the so-called low major Division I conferences may be the next group to undergo reshuffling, as the moratorium on moving up to Division I is drawing to an end and a number of Division II programs are examining the possibility of moving up, including the University of North Alabama.  

The first Wednesday of February is the first day of the annual signing period for NCAA Division I football players during which prospective student athletes sign copies of the National Letter of Intent indicating their commitment to attend the school of their choice and fax the letter into the football coach of the chosen school.  It's an annual rite in which we all get to witness hundreds of grown crowded around fax machines in various states of panic for periods of several hours, awaiting faxes from all those kids who verbally committed to their program. Some schools, notably Alabama, have live webcams fixed on those same fax machines to satisfy maniacal fans who want to see the faxes spit out even though they can't read the names.

This year's Rose Bowl was memorable for a variety reasons, not the least of which was the win by TCU, at least for this year a representative of non-automatic BCS qualifying schools.  Of course, TCU is joining the Big East, so its representation of the non AQ will be short-lived.

The game was also memorable for the still inexplicable call made by Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema on the potential game tying two point conversion attempt by the Badgers with less than two minutes remaining.  Disregarding the Badgers superior size and the results of the just concluded touchdown drive in which the Badgers ran nine out of ten plays, Bielema calls for a pass play out of the shotgun.  Wisconsin is not known for its passing game and perhaps Bielema was attempting to surprise TCU, but why he would decide to try something with the game on the line which the Badgers have not shown would work all game, when the team had shown its massive offensive line was capable of moving TCU's defense off the line enough to gain two yards will forever be a mystery.  Nevertheless, congratulations to TCU on the win and the undefeated season; they certainly demonstrated that they earned their top five ranking.

For 122 years, Pasadena has sponsored a spectacular tribute to flowers and Southern California in the early morning Rose Parade which annually precedes the Rose Bowl.  I can tell you that if you have never had the chance to see the parade in person, go the first chance you get.  Television doesn't do it justice, even in high definition. 

The Rose Parade also has another economic distinction that I bet you haven't heard: it is used as an economic indicator, just like unemployment figures, housing sales and who wins the Super Bowl.  The indicator this year points toward a continuation of the recovery as more companies participated in the parade.  There were 47 floats this year, up from 41 last year, which at anywhere from $100,000 to $450,000 a float is not an insignificant increase.  The Tournament of Roses Committee, the sponsor of the parade and the Rose Bowl has found that companies are investing in floats as alternatives to higher priced television ads for events like the Super Bowl.  The cost per impression is more favorable for the parade and companies are better able to tell their stories through the float.  The parade was seen this year in 127 countries versus 106 for the Super Bowl, and the parade is often seen on multiple networks at the same time, and repeated at various times throughout the next month.

Okay, the headline is a bit misleading - Boise State didn't officially rejoin the WAC, but with Hawai'i now joining the Mountain West for football only that makes four schools that have left the WAC for the Mountain West.  With Utah, BYU and TCU leaving the MWC, the reputation of the conference in the eyes of the football world now rests on Boise State and Nevada, just like the WAC did before the four schools decamped.  I know this is not the conference they all had in mind when they left. 

I know it's been quite a while since I posted anything but a combination of family matters and personal health issues has kept me away from the keyboard.  Hopefully, that's behind me now and posting will resume on a more regular basis, if not quite as frequent as in the past.

Okay, I can read a calendar but it's a little hectic around here right now (political campaigns we're working on are heading to the wire) so you get some reading links early:

Here are a few links for your weekend reading pleasure:

It's often said about departmental politics in colleges and universities that the politics is so brutal because the stakes are so small.  Maybe that's why the conference realignment game being played out among the Mountain West, WAC and West  Conference Conference seems to be on a whole other plain of duplicity and hard feelings than even the infamous ACC midnight raid on the Big  East.  At least in that raid, with the exception of the Boston College, there were no expressions of fealty to the league being abandoned before the jump was made.


The realignment dance out west began when the Pac-10(12) decided to explore expansion.  Shortly after the expansion discussions began, it became evident to BYU that it would not become a member of the PAC-10(12) and that Utah likely would.  At that point, it became clear to the leadership of the WAC that an opportunity was presenting itself to elevate the league's status to becoming the top non automatic qualifying conference in the land, by providing BYU with a spot for all of its teams other than football and working out an arrangement that would allow BYU to go independent in football, which is something that BYU had been exploring for years.  To that end, the WAC asked each member for a five year commitment to the league and each member agreed, whether that agreement was in writing and the nature of the agreement is going to be something that a court will likely decide but I'm getting ahead of myself.  


The Mountain West, now fearful of losing its two best programs, went searching for new members, other than Boise State who had jumped from the WAC before the discussions described above took place.  The league asked Utah State but the Aggies declined in solidarity with its WAC brethren and in reliance on its agreement with the other members.  It might end up paying a very heavy price for that choice.  The WAC then asked both Fresno State and Nevada, who each thought about their commitment to the WAC for about five seconds and jumped to the MWC, probably believing BYU was staying.  Now, Utah State, having been totally deceived by Fresno State and Nevada, wants a mulligan on the MWC decision and supposedly they are in discussions. 


Yesterday, BYU announced it is leaving the MWC to go independent and will affiliate with the West Coast Conference in other sports.  If that doesn't ring a bell, it is the wholly owned subsidiary of Gonzaga basketball.  BYU also announced an eight year agreement with ESPN for broadcast of its games across the ESPN family which justifies its decision.  In fact, it even has Southern Call at least thinking about taking the same route.  Who knows maybe Texas will take its Longhorn Network and go independent as well, although they have all of the advantages and none of the disadvantages so I guess it wouldn't make much sense for them to leave the Big XII (X).

The WAC meanwhile is now scrambling to see if they can keep a league together.  The biggest loser in all of this may be Hawai'i who desperately needs a conference to ensure enough games for all of its athletes.  It's bad enough trying to schedule football when the visitor receives and extra game to make up the travel costs, but the Olympic sports have similar travel costs (admittedly the teams are smaller) but no way to make up the additional expense.  If Hawai'i can't count on a conference to fill out its schedule its participation in Division I could be in jeopardy.  The second biggest loser could be the only school that acted honorably in the whole mess, Utah State.  If the MWC doesn't extend membership to the Aggies and they are left with the other WAC schools trying to pull together a makeshift conference, they may just have to return to the Big West.


We would like to think of our institutions of higher education as places where our children go to learn the values that help govern our free society.  Based on the manner in which these schools conduct their business, the values that are being taught to out kids are the very values that embody the Wall Street mentality that put us in the Great Recession.  A college or university athletic department is first and foremost a reflection of, introduction to and manifestation of that particular college or university.  If this is the way that these universities wish to portray themselves to the general public, they should not cry too much when legislators cut the budgets of public schools and when public and private schools have a tougher time attracting donations.  Few people like to be associated with greed, duplicity and the callous disregard for general ethics.  College athletics in particular should be above this.

Eight of the schools that will be remaining in the Big XII next year recently held a meeting with Learfield Sports, a multimedia rights management company which holds contracts with about 50 university athletic departments.  They met to discuss the viability of a Big XII network.  The results of the meeting are unknown although all involved have characterized it as just preliminary.


There are many hurdles to forming a conference network, one of the most significant is ensuring that the network will have an attractive inventory of football and men's and women's basketball games  In Big XII country I would add baseball to that list.  The problem faced by the remaining members of the conference is only partly the negotiations that will take place in 2011, about the existing contracts with Fox and ESPN which are expiring.  The biggest problem will be with Texas, which wants to form its own network and will want to keep as many of its games off the Big XII network and reserved for the Longhorn Network as possible.  The removal of Texas games significantly decreases the worth of the package to any prospective partner and national advertiser.  How the conference handles its Texas problem will be the key to whether it is able to proceed with a network of it own and deliver on the $20 million in television revenue it promised to the six schools which it induced to stay rather than jump to the Pac-10(12). Good luck with that network Mr. Beebe and lots of luck dealing with the Longhorn Monster you helped create.

Utah State found itself in a terrible position last week after it made what it considered to be a principled stand in turning down a bid from the Mountain West Conference to honor an agreement among all of the then current WAC members to stay in the WAC.  It was promptly stabbed in the back when Fresno State and Nevada leaped over each over in their hurry to accept MWC bids when offered, conveniently forgetting that solidarity pledge they had made only days before.  Shades of the Big East/ACC battles of several years ago, although the stakes involved are much smaller.