After being mystified by an unexpected surge in recruiting this week, we return to Big XII expansion talk to find OH GOODNESS, THIS MAY BE HAPPENING SOONER THAN WE EXPECTED...

• CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd reported yesterday that the Big XII may want to wrap up their expansion decision before the start of the college football season. While no set date has been set in place, the conference doesn’t want to overshadow the 2016 season and wants to hammer this out quickly to possibly get the new members in for the 2017 campaign. If true, boy, that escalated quickly. The conference has now gone from taking it’s sweet time and being rightfully skeptical about the prospect of expansion to wanting two (or four) new members potentially signed, sealed, and delivered within the span of a month. That may not necessarily bode well for certain schools...
• ...schools like South Florida, who Joey Knight says would have benefited from a successful 2016 season fortify their brand and prove their power five viability.
• Speaking of Dennis Dodd, he took a hammer to different school’s strategy of shamelessly pandering publicly for an invite. Looking right at you East Carolina (and everyone else).
• Let’s check in on AAC commish Mike Aresco, who just days before conference media days next week, says “no matter what happens, we will still have a conference.” It’ll all be over soon man.
• Tulane an expansion wild card? ESPN Big XII beat writer Jake Trotter ponders the Green Wave’s viability.