Big Ten expansion -- It's that song you can't get out of your head

 No, contrary to weekend reports, Missouri is not a member of the Big Ten.

It still could be, eventually. But don't expect any hard and concrete news on the topic until later this summer. Also, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said that the league plans to stick to the 12-to-18 month schedule it laid out when the Big Ten first announced it would pursue expansion last December.

The Big Ten athletics meet in Chicago on May 18-19. Big Ten presidents meet there in June.

Some hard news might come out of those events. Until then, all that there really is to go on is opinion.

Remember, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz probably doesn't have a vote in this.

"I haven't given it an awful lot of thought," said Ferentz, who Monday addressed a Cedar Rapids Downtown Rotary Club luncheon. "Not only will I might not have a vote, I doubt that I will have a vote, so I haven't given it an awful lot of thought."

But Ferentz does, as all of us do, have an opinion.

"I would say it's inevitable," he said. " It just seems to be the way college football is going right now. If it happens, when it happens, I won't be surprised. If it doesn't happen, it won't shock me, either."

It's inevitable or it might not happen. Either way.

Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez has been open about Big Ten expansion when the discussion first started. Last Friday at a university board athletic meeting, Alvarez told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the conference "is the silent period and the league isn't making any comments. Anything said right now is anyone's imagination."

Alvarez hopes Delany will have some sort of update during the May meetings. The college football world hopes so, too.

The only vote that matters here is Delany. The news will come from the Big Ten and it will take its time doing the due diligence. And/or waiting on Notre Dame to crack or say no for the third or fourth time.

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And then of course there's this: