By Cabrone D. Brewer

Fall is certainly a season of change.

Adding depth to a string of off the field changes that are emerging this season, Texas Christian University announced that they would be joining the Big 12 conference and snubbing the Big East before they ever had a chance to play a game in the league.

The move shifts the focus back to the realignment issue circulating college football this season, with the Big East left to ponder the fate of its conference following departure announcements by Syracuse and Pittsburgh earlier this year.

Arizona may have a solid relationship with the Pac-12, but coach Mike Stoops is searching for new employment opportunities after receiving his walking papers from the Wildcats earlier this week.

The firing of coach Stoops wasn’t completely unexpected — Arizona is currently sporting a 1-5 record six games into the season.

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Although it hasn’t been confirmed, rumor has it that Texas A&M will be joining the SEC. An official announcement will probably be made around August 22.

So when would the Aggies make the move? Some say that it could be as early as 2012. The official deadline for changing football conferences was July 1, 2011, which means that the deadline has already passed for the team to change, but it is still possible for the SEC and Big 12 to settle the issue, probably if Texas A&M pays a larger exit fee.

Part of the reason that the Aggies might be switching conferences can be traced back to the Longhorn Network, a new television network that only airs University of Texas sporting events. Evidently this really upset the Aggies, which could have spurred their decision to change conferences.

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Image Via: Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Sports

There’s no denying that sports instill college students with school pride and spirit. Sports programs are valuable, but when schools are investing more money on the football field than in the classroom, it may be time for some colleges to re-think their spending.

In early June, The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics called for several financial and academic reforms. One in particular wants NCAA schools to set aside at least 20 percent of their income from the football Bowl Championships Series for the classroom.

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The Big 10 now has twelve teams. The Big 12 has ten. It’s just another day in college football, as the Nebraska Cornhuskers applied for membership in the Big 10 in the latest move in college football’s widespread realignment and were accepted.

The Cornhuskers bring a rich tradition, solid academic reputation, and a piece of the Midwest media market to the Big 10. The Big 10 expands their reach, and, even if they don’t get anyone else to join, have enough members to create a lucrative conference title game.

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The college football realignment dance continued today, with Boise State University announcing it will join the Mountain West Conference, leaving their former home in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

This move makes sense on a number of levels. From a purely football standpoint, the Mountain West Conference (MWC) adds a major power in Boise State, which has compiled a 49-4 record over the last four years and has won a pair of Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games.

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