Whatever takes place in the next few years, ultimately there may be far fewer schools playing at the highest level as the poorer, weaker schools finally decide that the cost of trying to keep up with the Michigans and Nebraskas is no longer worth it. A look at some of the more earthshaking developments and their possible repercussions:


•The game's hottest new player is the Big East Conference, which is finally adding football to its sports lineup. Although the conference has yet to play its first official football game, it is already partners with four other major conferences (SEC, SWC, Big Eight and ACC), four major bowls (Sugar, Orange, Cotton and Fiesta) and Notre Dame in a complex alliance that is designed to produce the most desirable bowl matchups as well as to maximize the likelihood of having a No. 1-versus-No. 2 game on New Year's Day.

Perhaps, but the truth is that for the foreseeable future, Notre Dame is the only remaining independent that will consistently be in the Top 10 and have a shot at the national championship. Says Tranghese, "I don't think Notre Dame will ever align itself with a conference in football. They view alignment as narrowing and not in their best interest, and they're probably right."
"Only a fool would say 'always' or 'never,' " says Notre Dame athletic director Dick Rosenthal. "But we've got strong and marvelous intersectional rivalries, plus the ability to play some of the other great names in football, and that means a lot to us."

With the Big East up and running, it will be interesting to see what happens to Penn State. Will State be able to sell the Big Ten to athletes in its traditional recruiting areas of the Northeast? If not, it could be in trouble, because Penn State doesn't figure to have much of an impact in Michigan, Illinois and the other Big Ten states. They must be having some second thoughts in State College about the wisdom of joining the Big Ten instead of waiting for the Big East.

The one thing all the moving and shaking won't provide, at least for now, is what college fans say they want the most—a postseason playoff to determine a national champion. The university presidents are opposed to it on the grounds that it would lengthen the season and impose even more of a hardship on the athletes, and these days the trend is toward the presidents' getting what they want. Says one athletic director, who asked not to be identified, "We've got a large group of presidents who say they're concerned about the perceptions of college football, and yet they talk out of both sides of their mouths."