The National, 5/11/12: Whirligig.

I Need One of Those Boards on Which TV Execs Plan the New Season: DeLoss Dodds has told Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News that he thinks the Florida State/Big 12 rumors haven't "any basis at all". Florida State AD Randy Spetman has told the Orlando Sentinel that Florida State hasn't been negotiating and is committed to the ACC. All of this means precisely nothing at all, as we're all perfectly aware, but it at least moves the needle back to the "not happening" side of center. (Remember, Chip Brown is just the Longhorn mouthpiece; just because he says it doesn't make it so. It just means it's what Texas wants, but Texas doesn't always get its way contrary to opinions in Columbia and Lincoln and College Station.)

Meanwhile, the governor of Connecticut is openly calling for UConn and Boston College to resume their rivalry, which, gosh, would be so much easier if they were both in the ACC, wouldn't it? Eric Crawford of the Louisville Courier-Journal analyzes Louisville's actions and intentions in a must-read. Per Brett McMurphy (also a must-read, as is anything I link here with his name), Boise State has in fact met with the Mountain West regarding the possibility of pulling the plug on their move to the Big East, and it also turns out that they still have not yet officially informed the Mountain West of their intent to leave the conference. I suspect that if the Mountain West were to come up with ten million greenbacks to cover Boise and San Diego's bail, it would be game over, as a Mountain West with those two teams would be close enough to the same level as a Big East without them when it comes to new TV contracts that the benefit of salvaging Boise's non-football sports would make up the difference... and if Boise state goes back to the MWC, San Diego State's going too, without any question whatsoever.


The final piece of realignment stuff for the day: George Mason is not leaving the CAA for the Atlantic 10. They talked about it, but decided against it without formally applying, and without receiving an invitation. VCU, however, is still on the table for the moment. Should VCU remain as well, the CAA survives this round of realignment only losing Georgia State... which does cost them a presence in the Atlanta market, but affects them not one iota competitively, and Atlanta doesn't care about Georgia State anyway.

It's About Damned Time: The Football Championship Subdivision will be expanding their playoff field again, moving from 20 to 24 teams "by 2013", which means "in 2013" unless they rush it through for this year (unlikely). The most important aspect of this decision is that the Pioneer Football League will now finally receive an automatic bid, rather than being in an odd limbo where their champion get an "automatic at-large bid" so long as... well, in practice, so long as they go undefeated. (I could go into a longer explanation, but I'll spare you for now.) This, along with the dissolution of the Great West as a football conference, means that every FCS conference will now have an automatic bid with the exception of the Ivy and SWAC, whose champions voluntarily abstain from participating in the playoffs -- the Ivy for philosophical reasons, and the SWAC because their championship game is more lucrative than a playoff loss.

It's About Damned Time For This, II: It may only be for this upcoming season, but there will be three title games in one city next April as the NCAA has moved the Division II and Division III championships to Atlanta. The lower-division games will be held on Sunday, the day between the Division I semifinals and championship game which will be at the Georgia Dome; Phillips Arena is the tentative site for the D-II/D-III games, though I'd argue that the Georgia Dome would be a better option. Obviously, this will provide oodles of extra exposure, and if the response is overwhelmingly positive the NCAA may retain the model going forward. No word yet on whether it will just be the championship games, or whether the entire D-II Elite Eight and D-III Final Four will take place in Atlanta. Also no word on how CBS will approach their coverage -- as always, the D-II championship will air on CBS while the D-III title game will air on CBS Sports Network, but having them at the Final Four site may lead to more extensive efforts to promote the games during the Final Four.

Justice, Of a Sort, Finally Served: In 2003, 17-year-old Georgia prep Genarlow Wilson was arrested, tried, and convicted after he was caught on videotape receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl. You may recall this case, as it created a huge outcry due to being absolute horse manure; Georgia even changed the law in response, although that did Wilson no good. The Georgia Supreme Court ordered his release in 2007 after two years, ruling the punishment cruel and unusual, and with his tuition paid by radio host Tom Joyner, Wilson quietly enrolled at Morehouse, the Harvard of the HBCUs. He's graduating this month, with honors. Take that, Douglas County.

Diablerie: Allen Iverson tells Slam Online what John Thompson's reaction was when he asked the coach whether he'd be okay with him going out for football at Georgetown. ... The Chickenhawks are trying to get Missouri to approve a KU license plate. Now I just need Oklahoma to approve a K-State plate. ... Remember the Arizona Outlaws, of the USFL? Guess Rich Rodriguez does. ... Jon Bois launches This Week in GIFs: GO VOTE.