Check out our Nebraska-to-the-Big-Ten coverage here

EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: With Nebraska joining the Big Ten on Friday, we look back at 2003 when our Bob Asmussen already was hinting at the discord between some schools in the Big 12.

Headline: Conference call

Date: July 13, 2003

By BOB ASMUSSEN

We know the Big Ten is in solid shape, but the defections of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East to the ACC have put every league on edge. Here is how the rest of the BCS conferences stack up, courtesy News-Gazette staff writer Bob Asmussen:

Big East

Big East's overall grade: C

Members: Eight for football, 14 for basketball

Television exposure: They don't jokingly call ESPN the Eastern Sports Programming Network for nothing. During the basketball season, we're inundated with the league. How many times do you have to watch St. John's and Georgetown before you say enough already? Despite the heavy number of TV homes, the Big East lags in football coverage, with ABC locked into five league games a season and ESPN taking another five.

Marquee programs: Miami football, Syracuse basketball

Good: Jim Boeheim finally is smiling in the offseason after winning his first NCAA title. If the basketball part of the league can stay together, it will remain a national power. UConn is considered the preseason favorite to win the next NCAA tournament. And Notre Dame is a rising basketball power.

Bad: In a year, the league's football becomes the East Coast version of the Mountain West.

Ugly: Temple football. You reap what you sow. The head honchos in the conference thought so little of the Owls, they kicked them out starting in 2005.

Bowl package: BCS, Gator, Insight, Continental Tire and San Francisco. Mike Tranghese and pals have done a poor job in the postseason, with one ho-hum game (Gator) on New Year's Day. The package is weakened even more by the inclusion of Notre Dame in years when the school doesn't qualify for the BCS. Like last season.

Logical expansion targets: Notre Dame, Penn State, Louisville, South Florida, Central Florida

Overall: The grade drops to a D when Miami and Virginia Tech bolt. Adding Louisville doesn't do much good.

Big 12

Big 12's overall grade: B+

Members: 12

Television exposure: Football coaches in the league complain about the lack of weekly spots, with only three games guaranteed coverage. The conference is short of large markets, which cuts its appeal. An ESPN deal would be a good thing, even if it meant playing games at strange times. The basketball package is a healthy combination of ABC and ESPN. The league jumped at Big Monday when the Big Ten left. Good move.

Marquee programs: Oklahoma football, Kansas basketball

Good: What's supposed to be a football league has turned into a great basketball conference. Two Final Four teams in consecutive years puts the league among the top three. Adding Bill Self and Bob Knight to the coaching ranks makes it even better.

Bad: There is still some resentment and a lack of camaraderie between the old Big Eight schools and the four from the Southwest. Folks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska weren't happy when league offices were moved to Dallas. And there is a sense that Texas gets anything it wants. It will heal over time.

Ugly: Baylor has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons as basketball player Patrick Dennehy is missing and presumed dead. Basketball falls back on the priority list in Waco.

Bowl package: BCS, Cotton, Holiday, Alamo, Houston, Tangerine, Independence and Fort Worth. When the league gains a second BCS bid, which it did two years ago, every team has a reasonable destination. The league needs another consistent New Year's Day game.

Logical expansion targets: Notre Dame, Iowa, Arkansas

Overall: The television deals need to improve, and the league isn't quite as good in football as many expected.

ACC

ACC's overall grade: B-

Members: Nine

Television exposure: If Florida State isn't playing, the league gets almost no national network football coverage. You'll see more ACC teams playing on Thursday nights than any of the other BCS leagues, a sign of trouble.

Marquee programs: Duke basketball, Florida State football

Good: One word. Miami. The Hurricanes give the elite basketball league a legitimate shot at two BCS bids each year. That's a big wad of cash for school coffers.

Bad: No league has engendered more ill will during an expansion. Others, especially the Big East, will spend eternity trying to stick it to the ACC.

Ugly: Duke football. Can't imagine Mike Krzyzewski taking Shaun Livingston to see this mess during a recruiting visit. The team is 14-75 since its last bowl trip and 6-58 in the ACC. Miami and Virginia Tech already have penciled in an annual W.

Bowl package: BCS, Peach, Gator, Continental Tire and Tangerine. Until the 'Canes and Hokies join in the fun, the league is a one-hit BCS wonder. The Peach, Gator and Continental Tire bowls have regional appeal only and don't provide the league with a second highpowered Jan. 1 game. All that changes in '04.

Logical expansion targets: Notre Dame, Penn State, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, Georgia

Overall: The grade goes up to an A as soon as Miami and Virginia cross the threshold. And adding a 12th school, especially a one-sport power like Kentucky, makes it an A-plus.

Pac-10

Pac-10's overall grade: B-

Members: 10

Television exposure: Football has ABC, TBS and Fox Sports Net taking as many as four games a weekend. That's a plus. ABC and Fox Sports Net cover basketball, leaving the league short on important coverage in the East. The league's best basketball player (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was from New York.

Marquee programs: Southern Cal football, UCLA basketball

Good: Thanks to Stanford, UCLA and Southern Cal, Conference of Champions again won more NCAA titles (eight) than any other league. Nothing changes at Stanford, which always produces champions on the court and in the classroom. There isn't a more successful program in the country.

Bad: Think college basketball, and the first name that used to come to your mind was UCLA. Now, it's counting on some guy from Pitt to fix Steve Lavin's mess. What went wrong? Start with an upper management that doesn't believe in paying coaches the going rate. Hire Rick Pitino instead of Lavin, and UCLA would have won three titles in the last seven years.

Ugly: Make a few grand on an NCAA tournament pool, and you don't keep your coaching job. Who knew? Not Rick Neuheisel. The former UCLA quarterback blew it with his latest poor decision, though he still is trying to keep his job. More likely, he'll get a big lump of cash and be coaching quarterbacks for some NFL team in 2004.

Bowl package: BCS, Holiday, Sun, Insight, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley. None of the other major conferences lacks a second New Year's Day game, and the league is involved in shaky situations with the Silicon Valley, which needed a rules change to stay alive. The Pac-10 needs a second BCS bid each year to keep the members happy.

Logical expansion targets: Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M

Overall: The league hasn't played for the title under the BCS system, though Oregon probably deserved a shot in 2002. Once dominant against the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl, the Pac-10 has dropped seven of the last nine. Attendance could be better, too: The best is Washington at No. 20.

SEC

SEC's overall grade: B+

Members: 12

Television exposure: The smart folks in the league signed a football deal with CBS, helping SEC games receive national coverage. ESPN loads up on SEC night games. In basketball, the SEC has solid deals with CBS and ESPN.

Marquee programs: Tennessee football, Kentucky basketball

Good: Seven of the top 10 schools in football attendance belong to the SEC, led by No. 3 Tennessee (106,705). LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina all drew at least 82,000 a game last season. In a sliding economy, that's pretty impressive.

Bad: While attendance is up, the league also leads the nation in NCAA investigations. The latest to get the treatment is Georgia, which dumped successful coach Jim Harrick because of academic issues. Alabama has been hit repeatedly by the NCAA. Mississippi State is under constant threat. Making it worse for the schools: They all turn each other in.

Ugly: Next time Mike Price is out on the town, he might want to drive past the gentleman's club instead of pulling into it. A night on the town after a golf outing cost Price his precious job at Alabama. Unfortunately, he hadn't signed his rich contract, which means he is looking for work now. Alabama hired alum Mike Shula, who is a fine coach but never has been in charge of a program. Those who know him think Shula can handle the Alabama job. If he doesn't go 10-2 the first year, he might want to call Bill Curry and ask what he can expect. Board up the windows.

Bowl package: BCS, Citrus, Outback, Cotton, Peach, Music City and Independence. Four guaranteed Jan. 1 games (including the BCS) gives the league a huge recruiting boost. It doesn't hurt that the SEC teams often pound their opponents. If you see a 42-10 bowl score, the winning team is from the SEC.

Logical expansion targets: Clemson, Texas, Texas A&M

Overall: If Kentucky actually considers going to the ACC, it will be a huge blow. Don't count on it. We'll move the SEC up to an A if it can keep its nose clean for a year or two.