Time to play fantasy conference shuffling.

Notre Dame joins the Big Ten (creating what, the Big Dozen?).The nine-team Atlantic Coast drafts three Big East teams.

The Pacific-10 reacts by inviting Colorado and a second team - to be announced later - to also reach 12.

The Big 12 retains its status by admitting Arkansas, which has watched its football program wither in the Southeastern Conference.

The SEC, which started the realignment raiding rage in 1992 when it added Arkansas and South Carolina, finds itself standing in this game of musical schools. To stay at 12, it has to invite a Big East refugee or pluck an unripe school (Louisville?) from the expansion vine.

Fictional whimsy, you say? Perhaps. But the previous five paragraphs are closer to fact than fantasy. Why? I've heard off-the-record whispers from a variety of people who think the Big Ten is ready to round out its membership to a dozen. And its primary target is Notre Dame.

Recently, Big Ten officials shrugged off a story out of Ann Arbor, Mich., that had Notre Dame joining their league. There will be more stories and speculation, but we won't know for sure until a news conference is called. When and if that happens, the conference alignment dominoes will start falling.

The Big Ten has been at 11 teams since Penn State joined in 1993. By adding a 12th team, the Big Ten could stage a conference title game that could be worth $5 million to $7 million in television rights fees.

But isn't it preposterous that haughty Notre Dame, the school with its own football network (NBC), would join any conference? Ten years ago, did you think the possibility of the Southwest Conference dissolving preposterous?

Here's how and why the deal could go down:

The Big Ten has made overtures to Notre Dame before. This time, I hear, it's a Godfather offer. Take it or leave it, Irish, there won't be another chance. The Big Ten is going to 12 no matter what.

And if Notre Dame refuses, the Big Ten is prepared to invite Syracuse from the Big East. That would begin the end of the Big East, where Notre Dame has found a home for its sports other than football.

That's called leverage.

With most of the second-tier bowls aligned with conference tie-ins, Notre Dame is boxed out of the postseason if it fails to earn a spot in one of the four Bowl Championship Series games. That problem is solved if it joins the Big Ten.

If the Big Ten domino falls, then watch the feeding frenzy. Word is the ACC is eager to reach a dozen members and has its eye on Syracuse, Boston College and either West Virginia or Miami of the Big East. The Big East is on the endangered species list.

The Pac-10 will get to 12 by inviting Colorado, a school which considered a Pac-10 offer in the Big 12's infancy. And the Pac-10's 12th school?

BYU or Utah. Yes, either of the two leaders of the Western Athletic Conference renegades would be a perfect fit; plus, the Pac-10 has few other options if it wishes to expand.

All the breakaway WAC schools have is the good word of their eight fellow defectors, so BYU and Utah are free to cut a better deal. There is no honor among thieves or conference shufflers.

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And no, the Big 12 wouldn't throw a lifeline to TCU or SMU to become Colorado's replacement. With the SWC dead, Arkansas' escape in 1992 has been erased from its permanent record. Arkansas would be a geographic fit for the Big 12.

Once the SEC drafts a 12th school, big-time college athletics would be found in five 12-team conferences: ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10 and Big 12.

And there would again be peace in the collegiate valley. At least until those five conferences get fed up with the NCAA's meddling and decide to form their own association.

But that's another fantasy. For now.

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