Musical chairs for schools?

A fierce South Carolina-West Virginia rivalry within the SEC East should blossom by 2013, roughly coinciding with Clemson's attempt to slip past three football-mad Florida schools and into the ACC Championship Game while BYU sets sights on its first Pac-10 title.

There are rumblings from Corvallis to Chestnut Hill, down to Orlando and back again via Fayetteville. When Big Ten Conference officials revealed in December their intention to consider expansion, new domino theories clogged cyberspace like the latest "Accountants Gone Wild" video.

"The Big Ten -- or Big Eleven -- has been mulling it over for a number of years now," said Citadel athletic director Larry Leckonby, who has worked in athletic departments at Maryland, Houston, Boston College, Old Dominion, Boston and UMass-Amherst. It certainly makes sense from a football perspective if it's their intention to have a championship game. It makes perfect sense for them."

Cash is the key.

Or red ink, often spilling as college teams in all sports travel up and down their league standings as schedules dictate.

Geographic sense makes dollars.

Also, other leagues must get creative to compete with the SEC's new monster TV contract.

Maybe there will be no expansion in the next year or two, or just a little.

But a massive shift is possible, similar to the 1991 quake centered in South Bend; Notre Dame's NBC television deal triggered lots of movement, including South Carolina to the SEC and an eventual ACC makeover.

"It wouldn't be as extensive as when the ACC added three schools (Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech), but there would be a domino effect because the Big Ten is not going to pick a school that's not already in a major conference,"

Leckonby said. "I'm sure they'll ask Notre Dame first again, and Notre Dame will turn them down again."

What a new round of major conference shuffling might look like:

Big Ten

Add: Pittsburgh.

Subtract: None.

Good: Presto! Two six-team divisions and a championship football game!

Bad: Still didn't snag Notre Dame.

SEC

Add: West Virginia.

Subtract: Arkansas to Big 12.

Good: Enthusiastic Mountaineers and their nutty fans are out of place in the Big East.

Bad: A Florida school would make the most sense but the U. of Florida likes having exclusive Sunshine State rights to the SEC. And do you put West Virginia in the SEC West or split Tennessee and Vanderbilt?

ACC

Add: South Florida and Central Florida.

Subtract: Boston College and Maryland to the Big East.

Good: The (South) Atlantic Coast Conference gets sunnier and Florida State gets travel relief.

Bad: Change ruffles traditional feathers in a conference built around short bus rides, basketball and esteemed academic reputations.

Big East

Add: Boston College, Maryland and Temple.

Subtract: South Florida to the ACC, West Virginia to the SEC, Pittsburgh to the Big Ten.

Good: Landing BC and Maryland makes taking Temple acceptable.

Bad: Brrr … Just got a little colder.

Big 12

Add: Arkansas.

Subtract: Colorado to the Pac-10.

Good: Arkansas gets closer to its Texas roots.

Bad: No more scenic mountain views.

Pac-10

Add: Colorado, BYU.

Subtract: None.

Good: A Pac-10 Championship Game, two divisions to cut costs.

Bad: Long trips to the Rockies, two divisions to cut tradition.

Mountain West

Add: Boise State.

Subtract: BYU to the Pac-10.

Good: That blue field.

Bad: No more big crowds in Provo, and the Utah Utes are mad.

Conference USA

Add: Middle Tennessee.

Subtract: Marshall to the Mid-American.

Good: Rick Stockstill has made the Blue Raiders football legit.

Bad: Marshall has underrated fan support.

And everyone can get back on the merry-go-round a few years later.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.