Hot stuff out of Lincoln -- Nebraska to Big Ten by Friday?

As Keith Jackson would say, though he really didn't say it all that often ... Whoa, Nellie!

This from Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald:

An executive at a Big 12 school relayed to The World-Herald on Tuesday that he expects Nebraska to become a member of the Big Ten as early as Friday.

NU Chancellor Harvey Perlman has declined all interviews about conference realignment and expansion. He is expected to address the topic with the Board of Regents at its Friday meeting in Lincoln.

Direct confirmation from Nebraska of a conference change for the Huskers wasn't immediately available. Sources at two other Big 12 schools told The World-Herald that their athletic directors have instructed them to be ready by week's end for a briefing on probable Big 12 changes.

To see Barfknecht's entire piece, click here.

Lee's a good sports journalist. He isn't saying Nebraska to the Big Ten is a done deal. He's saying a Big 12 executive told him he expects Nebraska to join the Big Ten. "Expects" is the operative word.

Said Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne on his monthly radio appearance on the Husker Sports Network:

“There's a lot of information we really don't have right now," Osborne said. “Hopefully we'll get these put together in the next few days."

And: “We certainly don't have anything against anybody in the Big 12. This decision is not going to be based on animosity or petty jealousy. You're talking about something that could maintain for the next 75 to 100 years."

You tell me what that sounds like, Iowa and Iowa State fans. Because to me, it sounds like the Big Ten is about to extend its footprint westward and enter its ninth state.

And if this first major domino falls, the guts of the Big 12 South (Texas and its pals, in other words) will act, and act quickly. Does it simply sub in TCU and go forward? It hardly seems likely. Not with Missouri still seemingly up in the air. Not with the Pac-10 poised to do something, anything, even as "small" as annex Colorado and Utah to get to 12 schools and land two new markets of its own.

Of course, if there is a mass migration from the Big 12 to the Pac-10, who will the six teams be? The original scuttlebutt said Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Then it was said the Texas legislature was leaning toward getting involved and insisting Baylor be part of the mix, putting Colorado on the shelf.

Colorado's regents met behind closed doors Tuesday night.

It's even been suggested in some circles that Oklahoma State could be the odd team out, never mind Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State.

Of course, Oklahoma State has tycoon T. Boone Pickens to fight its battles. Baylor's president is Kenneth Starr, of Clinton/Lewinsky fame. He began his current job a week ago.

"What we do know is that members of our board of regents are working tirelessly to make Baylor's case known," Starr said Monday. "There are these great traditions and rivalries among the Texas schools."

Baylor's television market is larger than Cedar Rapids-Waterloo's, but nowhere near as large as Denver's.

It was Gov. Ann Richards and the Texas state house that saw to it that Baylor was included when the Big 8 hooked up with four Texas schools to form the Big 12. We'll see if Baylor still has similar clout in Austin.

Meanwhile, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he'll do what he can to help Iowa State, including lobby for ISU to get an invitation to join the Big Ten.

It's a good sentiment, and what's a governor for if not to fight for what's important in his state? But ... Iowa State's best hope isn't Culver, but that Nebraska decides to cling to the Big 12.

I know all this, day after day, makes one weary. But it really does appear like there's some actual movement about to happen after all this tiresome speculation. The question is if it's just mere movement, or will it be ground-shaking. The World-Herald story leads me to think it's the latter.