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When former Florida State quarterback Clint Trickett announced his decision to transfer, two schools emerged as favorites.

USF and West Virginia. Both schools had open quarterback jobs. Trickett had connections to both as well.

But in the end, Trickett decided he fit better with the Mountaineers, announcing his decision Wednesday to enroll at West Virginia. So that leaves USF where it was when spring practice ended: nowhere near clarity or resolution in its open quarterback spot.

Sure, this is a tough blow for the Bulls, who hoped Trickett would be able to come in and make an immediate impact in his final two seasons. He played generally well when he played for the Seminoles, and seemed to be the heir to EJ Manuel. But he lost an edge to win the starting quarterback job at Florida State to an exceptional talent. His slip behind Jameis Winston is not a major indictment on Trickett, but rather a nod to the unharnessed physical abilities Winston has that simply set him apart.

Having said that, this is not an unrecoverable blow for the Bulls. USF only ever had the idea of Trickett, who did take an official visit last week. Does that rankle Matt Floyd and Bobby Eveld? It should. And it should motivate them to dedicate themselves even more during the offseason, as both fight to win the starting job.

Neither inspired much in the way of confidence among the fans following the spring game, which is why many were so eager to see Trickett land in Tampa. Floyd played in seven games last year and started two. His fumbling problems in that spring game are simply inexcusable. He is not a freshman. Eveld couldn't get his team into the end zone until the very, very end. He's played in his fair share of games as well.

Coach Willie Taggart has praised them both, saying they showed improvement and leadership throughout the spring. Now one of them has to go out and take this job.

Nobody else is coming in to save the day.

Marc Schaffer had registered for a bone marrow drive during his freshman year at Temple. Five years later, this past March, the graduate extern athletic trainer for the football team received a call asking to help a young male battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

"I didn't really have an initial reaction," Schaffer said. "Once you get that call, to me it's no longer how I feel. It's about that person and that family. That's what my reaction was: I'm getting this call to help someone."

For Schaffer, the decision to donate stemmed from a national college football movement led by Villanova coach Andy Talley, with Temple screening a record 630 possible donors while under former head coach Al Golden. On a more personal level, Schaffer was donating in honor of former Owls equipment manager Michel'Le Daughtry, who passed away in March 2011 following a three-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

The team's bone marrow drive in April 2010 was dedicated to finding a donor for Daughtry.

"It was definitely with her in mind, because she had passed away in 2011," Schaffer said. "And I knew she was behind everything."

Schaffer had to get blood work done to determine that he was the best match for the patient in need. Once confirmed, he underwent a physical one week later and set up for the procedure, receiving daily injections to increase his stem cell count.

One week later, in early April, Schaffer underwent the peripheral blood stem cell procedure. He was fully awake for the process, which lasted for nearly five hours and is a lot like donating blood, except with blood going back into the body after it is filtered and the blood stem cells are removed.

Schaffer will have to wait 90 days to know if the procedure worked for the recipient, and it will take a year before Temple Hospital tells him who he helped.

But the 23-year-old returned to Temple's practice the next day, where he resumed his duties of helping out with the sports medicine staff while in pursuit of a master's degree at the school, this after receiving his undergraduate degree in athletic training in 2011.

He encourages others to join the registry, saying that phone calls like the one he received in early March are often the last options for patients in need.

"You're on the list for a reason," Schaffer said.

Keep it coming, Midwest weather.

• Our Brad Edwards tackles remaining questions facing college football's future playoff.
• Our Rod Gilmore says that the NCAA should limit contact in the spring.
• Louisville is in the process of receiving new FieldTurf.
• Bengals.com has draft reaction from former SMU end Margus Hunt.
• Temple coach Matt Rhule writes about his mother, Gloria, and her win against breast cancer.
• Former UCF D-lineman Leger Douzable looks like he's gunning for my job: He's going to participate in Sports Journalism & Communications Boot Camp.
• Former UConn receiver Mike Smith will have a chance to join two college teammates with the Texans, Desmond Conner writes in the Hartford Courant.

The 2013 NFL draft is in the rearview mirror, so now it's time to look into our crystal ball one year into the future at all the tantalizing possibilities for the 2014 NFL draft.

The most tantalizing thought of all: South Carolina behemoth defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater both declare as underclassmen and therefore produce one of the biggest debates in recent memory. Do you take a game-changing defensive end with the No. 1 overall pick or a franchise quarterback?

They are already rated as the top two players available for 2014 in several mock drafts. So Edward Aschoff in SEC land and Andrea Adelson in Big East/AAC land decided to let the debate begin!

AA: The first thing I want to say is I love Clowney. I love watching him play. I love his demeanor. I love his personality. I had a front-row seat for the Outback Bowl and chronicled his demolition of Michigan running back Vincent Smith, the best play I have ever seen in person. Now, having said that, is there really a debate here? Honestly? To build an NFL team, you build at quarterback. That is why the overwhelming majority of No. 1 overall picks have been quarterbacks. Let's just go back to 2000 to make things easy. Do you know how many No. 1 overall picks were quarterbacks in that time span? Ten. Do you know how many No. 1 overall picks were defensive ends in that same span? Two. Teddy Bridgewater has every single measurable tool every single NFL team wants. He has a great arm, great physical size and can make plays with his legs. And he has every single intangible every NFL team wants. He is a gritty leader, plays through pain, is a student of the game, obsesses about every detail and has absolutely no character issues. Bridgewater is the clear choice.

EA: I love Bridgewater. He can sling it with the best of them and has the toughness that any coach at either the college or pro level would want. I'd start a franchise around him, if Jadeveon Clowney wasn't sitting there. Yes, the NFL has turned into more of an offensive league, but let's just look at the most recent Super Bowl. Defense wins championships, and Clowney will make an immediate impact with whichever team wins his sweepstakes. Were scouts and talking heads clamoring for Bridgewater to skip the 2013 season so that he could guarantee his spot as the first player taken in next year's draft? In the words of Kevin McCallister: I don't think so. Clowney is more than just a man-child. I'm not sure he's even human. He runs a 4.5 40-yard dash at 6-6, 272 pounds. He's a physical specimen and could play in the NFL right now. He would have been the unquestioned first pick in this year's draft if he could have left early. "The Hit" was only the beginning. Also, he's going up against the best offensive lines in the country and still has 21 sacks, 33.5 tackles for loss and seven forced fumbles during his two-year career. How is Bridgewater's stock going to go any higher playing in the Big East?

AA: His stock is not going to go up any higher because he already is listed either No. 1 or No. 2 on just about every early 2014 mock NFL draft. Where do you want him to go, infinity and beyond? The competition will be bland this year, but forget that. Bridgewater will always have Florida. Clowney? Not so much. Scoreboard says Louisville > Florida > South Carolina in 2012. And yes, if the Gamecocks had Bridgewater under center, they would have been playing for another SEC title last year. One more point on the schedule. Whom did Eric Fisher play against in the MAC that warranted his selection as the No. 1 overall pick? Fisher was selected over a player at his position from the SEC. So throw conference affiliation out. Now, let's look at what value a quarterback brings to a team versus what value a defensive end brings to a team. For my millions upon millions, I want a player who touches the ball every single play he is no the field. There is no doubt that Clowney is a once-in-a-lifetime player. But it is much more difficult for a once-in-a-lifetime defensive player to change the fortunes of a pro team without a strong quarterback behind center. Defense may win championships, but the last time I checked, No. 1 overall picks John Elway, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning all won Super Bowls. Mario Williams, Courtney Brown and Bruce Smith? Nada.

EA: Wow! So you're putting Teddy Heisman in the same boat as Elway and the Mannings? My goodness. I mean he's good, but his shinning moment was beating a Florida squad that barely made it off the bus in New Orleans. Here's the thing about Clowney: He still has a lot of room to grow. He's admitted to taking plays off last year, and he was still arguably the best defensive player in the country. Imagine if he had played to his full potential last year. And everyone in Columbia seems to think that he's ready to become a complete player. Think about that for a second. He's even more motivated going into his final year. He wants to prove something and he might just prove that he's the best player in the country, regardless of position. You don't find athletes like Clowney every day. There are plenty of quarterbacks out there who could be franchise players. There's no one in next year's draft who comes close to measuring up to the kind of defender Clowney is -- and will be. Sure, he won't throw any touchdowns and he won't have the ball in his hands every play, but he'll change games for his future team. He'll figure out a way to get the ball back to his offense and he'll figure out a way to get points on the scoreboard. He might even do it himself sometimes. The bottom line is that Clowney is a rare breed, and passing on him with the first pick would be foolish.

USF has underachieved the last two seasons. That much is not up for debate.

But a new year always brings a new sense of optimism. And when we're talking about USF, there is always unbridled optimism, along with folks eager to label this team as a "darkhorse" or "sleeper" in the conference. I have done so myself!

So I am sure it surprises none of you that ESPN Insider Travis Haney has chosen USF as his "sleeper" team in the soon-to-be renamed Big East. Why are the Bulls his pick? His main argument surrounds new coach Willie Taggart, who comes from the Harbaugh family coaching tree.

Haney writes:

Taggart went from two wins in 2010 to seven in each of the next two seasons, leaving the job for USF and being replaced by ... Bobby Petrino. That's raising the bar.

So believing he could get USF going with Florida kids is not very far-fetched, regardless of what happens to the crumbling football league.

I have been on the record as saying Taggart is an A-plus hire for USF. I think he will turn this program around quickly. But I am not sure USF is a sleeper this year for a host of reasons. The biggest is offense. I just don't think the Bulls have the players in place to run the aggressive smash-mouth style Taggart likes to run. That was proven in the spring game, when they had no real consistent rushing game on either team. To me, the Bulls have one skill player with NFL caliber talent on offense right right now -- receiver Andre Davis. That's about it.

Where the Bulls could surprise some folks is on defense. I think the front has a chance to be much better than it has been over the last several seasons. There are some depth issues at linebacker, and the secondary has to be rebuilt from scratch. But if USF can keep games close because of its strength up front, then this team could have a respectable season.

Just from an pro-talent perspective, Louisville has won with less.

Way less.

Consider, the Cardinals had zero picks in the recently concluded NFL draft -- the only BCS winning-team from the 2012 season without a selection. Of the 10 BCS teams, only two had no picks -- Louisville and Northern Illinois. Not exactly the company the Cardinals want to keep.

Over the past two years, Louisville has had one pick -- Greg Scruggs went in the seventh round in 2012. And yet the Cardinals have made three straight bowl games. Contrast this to UConn, which has underachieved, as Matt Fortuna showed earlier today.

Now, there is one key reason that Louisville has not represented in the NFL draft of late. The Cardinals have been one of the youngest teams in the country over the past two seasons. The team that beat Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in January featured 12 starters on offense, defense and special teams that were freshmen and sophomores. Only five seniors started out of an exceptionally small senior class.

Usually teams that young don't win that quickly. Credit coach Charlie Strong and his staff for leading them in the right direction.

Because a majority of these starters return in 2013, Louisville is an early preseason top-10 favorite. But even if we begin projecting out to the 2014 draft, only one player has been featured in three early lists of the top prospects. That would be quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, a rising junior with a decision to make when the season ends. No other Louisville player is featured on these two lists from CBSsports.com or Athlon Sports.

Now take a look at some of the other preseason favorites in 2013 and you will see multiple players listed for Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon to name three. Bridgewater is the clear headliner, of course, as he goes into the season as a preseason Heisman candidate. If he leaves school early, he could be the No. 1 overall pick. But if he is one of just a handful of Louisville players that ends up getting drafted off the Sugar Bowl-winning team, that feat looks even more impressive.

Especially when you consider Florida had eight draft selections this past weekend.

 

Lots of undrafted free-agent signings to note.

• Finding a suitable conference has long been an issue for the Bearcats, Bill Koch writes in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
• Former Houston players Phillip Steward (Rams), Jacolby Ashworth (Redskins) and Brandon Hartson (Bears) have all signed undrafted NFL free-agent deals, Joseph Duarte writes in the Houston Chronicle.
• Mark Ennis, Steven Lassan and Mark Ross look at Louisville's top challengers within the conference on AthlonSports.com.
• Former Rutgers players Mark Harrison (Chicago) and Tim Wright (Tampa Bay) have signed undrafted NFL free-agent deals, the school has announced.
• Former USF players Cory Grissom (Patriots), Evan Landi (Bucs), Mark Popek (Jets), Maikon Bonani (Titans) and George Baker (Titans) have all signed undrafted NFL free-agent deals, Greg Auman writes in the Tampa Bay Times.

One of the bigger surprises nationally from an NFL draft weekend that produced no shortage of them was just how well UConn fared. The Huskies had a school-record five players selected in the 2013 draft, a number that was tied for 10th-most among all colleges, along with Oregon, Texas A&M and North Carolina.

Gee, which of those is not like the other?

In fact, you could extend that question to include all 13 schools that had five or more players taken in this year's draft. The Tar Heels are the only team among the group of 13 that did not play in the postseason, and that's because the 8-4 program was dealing with a bowl ban.

Do UConn fans look at this year's record NFL sendoff as a positive recruiting tool, or does it just make consecutive 5-7 seasons in Paul Pasqualoni's first two years all the more disappointing?

To be fair, anyone who has followed this program closely either during this past season or throughout the lead-up to the draft should not be all that surprised by the showing this past weekend. Trevardo Williams (fourth round, 124th overall, Texans) led the Big East in sacks in each of the past two seasons, Blidi Wreh-Wilson (third, 70, Titans) was the team's MVP and Sio Moore (third, 66, Raiders) dazzled throughout the evaluation process.

The Huskies, after all, ranked No. 9 nationally in total defense in 2012, allowing just 309.92 yards per game. Four of their five draftees were on the defensive side of the ball, with tight end Ryan Griffin (sixth, 201, Texans) being the lone outlier.

The problem, of course, was an offense that ranked 110th nationally in yards per game, 118th in scoring, 117th in rushing and, most of all, 110th in turnover margin.

Pasqualoni was quick to the point in an interview Monday with the Hartford Courant's Desmond Conner:

“Well if you turn the ball over [on offense] and you give up a big play at an inopportune time [on defense] regardless you’re chances of winning are slim,” Pasqualoni said. “That would be my first response to it. The biggest factor in winning football games, still, and it’s no revelation, nothing new and it’s not anything anybody doesn’t know, it’s that the turnover…if you turn the ball over in tight games you stand a good chance of losing, No.1.”

UConn brings back Chandler Whitmer under center and Lyle McCombs in the backfield, along with its entire starting offensive line from 2012. It also stripped George DeLeone of his offensive coordinator duties, though he is still in charge of the line.

Whether all of those pieces, plus the addition of offensive coordinator T.J. Weist, can help the Huskies make the jump to postseason play in 2013 remains to be seen.

D.J. Hayden and Tom Rinaldi detail Hayden's incredible journey from life-threatening injury to first-round draft pick.

The NFL draft and spring practices are behind us, meaning that another phase of the college football offseason is upon us. (It also means we are one step closer to the first college football Saturday of 2013 … 123 days, to be exact. But who's counting?)

Spring ball offered us a fresh look at teams and their question marks as they prepare for the upcoming season, and on Monday our Mark Schlabach put forth his latest evaluations in releasing a revised too-early Top 25. Big East fans will like who they see awfully close to the top.

Louisville has jumped four spots from Schlabach's latest rankings, ending up at No. 4.

Previous rank: 8
Is there a hotter athletics department in the country than Louisville right now? The Cardinals are coming off a 33-23 upset of Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, a men's basketball national championship and a trip to the women's basketball Final Four. With 19 starters coming back in football, including Heisman Trophy candidate Teddy Bridgewater, the Cardinals are more than capable of duplicating last season's success. Bridgewater picked up where he left off in the spring game, completing 16 of 20 passes for 214 yards. Louisville has added more weapons around him, including Florida transfers Robert Clark and Gerald Christian and tailback Dominique Brown, who sat out last season with a knee injury. The Cardinals might not be the country's fourth-best team based on talent and depth, but which opponent is capable of unseating them in the depleted Big East? Louisville plays a soft nonconference schedule (Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky and Florida International) and its Big East road games will be played at Temple, South Florida, Connecticut and Cincinnati.

Schlabach bases these rankings on potential paths to perfect regular season. Using that logic, it is hard to argue against the Cardinals' ranking, as they are the reigning Big East champion and the clear-cut favorite in what will be the American Athletic Conference in 2013, led by a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate in Bridgewater.

Louisville will likely be heavily-favored in each of its 12 games.

The top spot in Schlabach's rankings belongs to Ohio State, which jumped Alabama following this spring season. Again, given the criteria, it is hard to see the Buckeyes stumbling given what they bring back in Urban Meyer's second season (and given their perfect 2012 campaign).

Oregon comes in at No. 3, while Stanford rounds out the Top 5.

No other Big East teams are in Schlabach's Top 25.

The big winner from the Big East on draft day?

Rutgers in a landslide.

The Scarlet Knights had a school-record seven players selected over the three-day draft, breaking the previous high of five set in 2009. New England drafted three Rutgers players -- cornerback Logan Ryan (third round), safety Duron Harmon (third round) and linebacker Steve Beauharnais (seventh round) -- the most by any NFL team in one NFL draft.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is quite familiar with Rutgers, as his son, Stephen, was a long snapper on the team. Belichick and former coach Greg Schiano have had a great relationship going back many years and it paid off in a big way in 2013. Of the seven players who were drafted, two were underclassmen who declared early -- Ryan and running back Jawan Jamison.

Many questioned Jamison's decision to turn pro after one singular 1,000-yard season, and he ended up going in the seventh round by Washington. Jamison told Redskins beat writers on a conference call he made the decision to turn pro to help pay his mother's medical bills as she undergoes breast cancer treatment.

UConn was next with five players selected, further proof the team underachieved on the field the past several seasons. Three of those players went in a span of seven picks in the third round -- Dwayne Gratz to Jacksonville, Sio Moore to Oakland and Blidi Wreh-Wilson to Tennessee.

In all, the Big East had 19 players selected. That includes Syracuse, which is headed to the ACC for next season. Three Orange players were taken -- Justin Pugh in the first round to the Giants, Ryan Nassib in the fourth round to the Giants, and Shamarko Thomas in the fourth round to Pittsburgh.

Here is a look at where players on current or future Big East teams went:

First round

• No. 12 Houston CB D.J. Hayden, Oakland

Second round

• No. 51 SMU DE Margus Hunt, Cincinnati

Third round

• No. 63 Cincinnati TE Travis Kelce, Kansas City
• No. 64 UConn CB Dwayne Gratz, Jacksonville
• No. 66 UConn LB Sio Moore, Oakland
• No. 70 UConn CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Tennessee
• No. 83 Rutgers CB Logan Ryan, New England
• No. 90 USF CB Kayvon Webster, Denver
• No. 91 Rutgers S Duron Harmon, New England

Fourth round

• No. 117 Rutgers LB Khaseem Greene, Chicago
• No. 124 UConn DE Trevardo Williams, Houston

Sixth round

• No. 181 UCF RB Latavius Murray, Oakland
• No. 201 UConn TE Ryan Griffin, Houston

Seventh round

• No. 219 Rutgers TE D.C. Jefferson, Arizona
• No. 228 Rutgers RB Jawan Jamison, Washington
• No. 232 USF LB Sam Barrington, Green Bay
• No. 235 Rutgers LB Steve Beauharnais, New England
• No. 237 USF QB B.J. Daniels, San Francisco
• No. 243 UCF S Kemal Ishmael, Atlanta
• No. 252 Rutgers CB Marcus Cooper, San Francisco

Here is a look at some of the notable free-agent signings:

Cincinnati: RB George Winn (Houston); DE Dan Giordano (Arizona); WR Kenbrell Thompkins (New England); LB Maalik Bomar (Jacksonville).

Louisville: C Mario Benavides (Kansas City); OT Alex Kupper (Houston); CB Adrian Bushell (Oakland).

Temple: RB Montel Harris (Tampa Bay); DE John Youboty (Denver); P/K Brandon McManus (Indianapolis); OL Martin Wallace (Cleveland).

Huh-larious.

• Rutgers will officially be a member of the Big Ten East come 2014.
• Should we call them the Rutgers Patriots or the New England Scarlet Knights?
• AFC West blogger Bill Williamson says that the Raiders' selection of former Houston corner D.J. Hayden was the most surprising draft pick in that division.
• AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky says that former UConn star Trevardo Williams will add to the Texans' linebacker depth. That division is pretty Husky-heavy with corner Dwayne Gratz (Jaguars), Blidi Wreh-Wilson (Titans) and Ryan Griffin (Texans).
• Former Rutgers offensive tackle R.J. Dill and former Cincinnati linebacker Maalik Bomar have both signed rookie free-agent deals with the Jaguars.
• NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert calls former Rutgers linebacker an inspired pick for the Bears.
• AFC North blogger James Hensley says that former SMU end Margus Hunt will make an immediate special-teams impact with the Bengals.

Two of the biggest storylines for Rutgers entering the 2013 spring season centered around two of its biggest offensive weapons -- one because of what he has done and the other because of what he may be able to do.

It was only a spring game, but Gary Nova and Savon Huggins did what they could to assure Scarlet Knights fans that the quarterback and running back positions will be in strong shape in 2013. Nova completed 11 of 16 passes for 222 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, while Huggins rushed for 73 yards and a score on 16 carries, while adding 19 yards on two catches.

Nova struggled during Rutgers' three-game losing streak to close the 2012 campaign but entered the spring lighter and more confident. He had a full vote of confidence from head coach Kyle Flood following his poor showings last season, and he has worked closely with new offensive coordinator Ron Prince throughout the spring, with nothing but positive words about him coming out of Piscataway, N.J.

Huggins, meanwhile, will have to carry the load in Rutgers' backfield after Jawan Jamison did much of the same last year. The Scarlet Knights' offense was never the same late in the season, when Jamison was hurting, and the top-rated player in the state of New Jersey from the Class of 2011 finally has the running back position all to himself. His 41-carry, 179-yard performance in a key win over Cincinnati late last season showed what he is capable of when given opportunity knocks.

Nova and Huggins' Scarlet team were 57-19 winners over the White team Saturday, with the game's final five touchdowns scored by 16 sixth-to-eighth graders from towns affected by Hurricane Sandy, playing flag football.

Roughly 21,000 fans at High Point Solution Stadium were given an option to donate $5 to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund. Rutgers wore "R Strong" helmets and sported jerseys with the names of more than 90 towns affected by Sandy, with each being signed by Flood and given to each town later this spring and summer.

Senior end Marcus Thompson won the Frank R. Burns Award, given to the player who displayed extraordinary mental and physical toughness in the spring. Redshirt freshman running back Desmon Peoples won the Mark Mills Second Effort Award and redshirt freshman corner Ian Thomas won the Douglas A. Smith Award as the most improved offensive and defensive players, respectively.

Ask, and you shall receive.

DMG in Tampa, Fla., writes: The Big East today is basketball, no football yet nobody calls it the AAC or American Athletic Conference but everyone keeps calling it the Big East. Is there a law or contract that says you all have to keep calling this football conference the Big East even though they have already re-named it the American Athletic Conference? I'm just amazed that this whole country, Government and Law and Business is exactly just like this. Such an easy change made extremely hard. Have ESPN just change the name to American Athletic Conference / AAC now and forever please...!!!

Andrea Adelson writes: If only I could wave my magic wand or click my heels three times and make it so. For all of you hollering at me in the mailbag to have the name changed on our blog page once and for all, let me just copy and paste the first line from the statement announcing the name change:

The current Big East Conference has announced that it will be renamed the American Athletic Conference and will rebrand as such across all platforms, associations and media at the conclusion of the 2012-13 sports seasons.

So, until the sports seasons conclude, this technically is still the Big East blog. I have asked my editors about a timetable for the name change, and they are working on it.

This is the last time I will answer questions about why the name has not been changed yet. I know you all have plenty more to ask!

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Ryan in Cincinnati writes: Hi Andrea, With the disappointing Grant of Rights announcement from the ACC, do you think the UC's (UConn, Cincy) will push the AAC to receive revenue from outside the box sources like a conference wide sponsor to even the playing field? Ex. The American Athletic Conference brought to you by Bank of America.

Adelson: Highly doubtful. Commissioner Mike Aresco shot down that idea rather forcefully last month. I don't think the grant of rights changes much in terms of dollars and cents. The soon-to-be-renamed Big East was already way, way behind the ACC in terms of television contract dollars before the GOR announcement.

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Mark in Boston writes: In your "Cincinnati, UConn stuck in place" column, you state that "Cincinnati and UConn... bring no real monetary value from a television rights perspective." I respectfully disagree. Did Louisville bring monetary value from a television rights perspective? They are the No. 48 market. Hartford-New Haven is the No. 30 market, not to mention the fact that Southwestern CT is not in the Hartford-New Haven market but is in the NYC (No. 1) market. So, I am guessing that a solid third of all UConn fans are in the NYC market, not to mention that UConn has more fans in the NYC market than Syracuse. Of all the remaining attractive candidates for the Power 5 conferences, UConn brings the most number of TV sets and fans.

Adelson: You just proved my point, Mark. The Big Ten already has the New York market with Rutgers. As for Louisville, the Cardinals were not added for the television dollars. They were added to fill Maryland's spot, and television was not much of a factor because of that. In regards to potential future Big Ten expansion, that league would be looking to add teams that ADD value. Tell me what value UConn adds from a TV perspective when New York already is locked down?

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Ryan in Johnstown, Ohio, writes: What would you consider as a realistic bowl line up for the 11-12 members in the AAC for the 2014-2017 bowl cycle? Do you think all of the current bowls will stick with the AAC? What are the chances the AAC can pick up a bowl or two in its new footprint -- lets say the Liberty Bowl and/or a bowl in Texas?

Adelson: I do not think all the current bowl partners will remain in the lineup. The New Era Pinstripe Bowl and the Russell Athletic Bowl, based on several media reports, have talked to other leagues. I would not be surprised if both those were gone from the rotation. The Belk Bowl also is having discussions with other leagues. My guess is that the league will do whatever it takes to keep one of its Florida bowls (in this case, the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl) and add one from Texas.

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John in Milton, Fla., writes: Hi Andrea. I saw that Clint Trickett was talking about USF being his first choice to attend after transferring out of FSU. Matt Floyd and Aaron Munoz are from my neck of the woods in Florida and I want them to succeed so bad I can taste it. However, this news of Trickett has completely excited me! What kind of percentage do YOU think there is that he'll come on down to USF? If he does, do YOU think it makes USF better or that it really doesn't change anything about the program?

Adelson: First, let me say I have no idea what is Trickett's first choice, based on the media reports out there. He also reportedly has an interest in West Virginia and Auburn as well. I know he has connections with coach Willie Taggart, but the bottom line is he is going to go to the school that gives him the opportunity to start. Now. He certainly would have that chance in Tampa, as the competition goes on between Matt Floyd and Bobby Eveld. I actually went up to Florida State spring practice for a few days last month as part of my ACC duties, and I thought Trickett looked very polished. Nice arm, made all the throws. Would he make USF better? That is a great question, and one that is an unknown. I think it really all depends on how he does picking up the system. On paper, it looks like a good fit, but you never truly know until a player arrives on campus and starts going through practice.

Rutgers is the last team in the league to play its spring game. Here are three story lines to watch when the Scarlet Knights play Saturday.

1. Gary Nova's progression. Every single person who has seen Nova play this spring has said he looks like a completely new quarterback. Fans will get their own glimpse to see just how far Nova has come from the end of last season, when he looked to be regressing right in front of our eyes. Nova has dropped weight and is playing with much more confidence. All great signs, considering he is learning a new offense and working under a new coordinator in Ron Prince. I had a chance to catch up with linebacker Jamal Merrell this week and asked him for some players who have stood out to him this spring. The first player he mentioned -- Nova. "He's just been really consistent, and he's really improving," Merrell said.

2. New-look secondary. Rutgers has to replace three players in its defensive backfield -- both starting cornerbacks Marcus Cooper and Logan Ryan, and safety Duron Harmon. Tejay Johnson, Gareef Glashen and Ian Thomas have all taken turns running with the first team at cornerback, while it appears Jeremy Deering has found a home at free safety. Deering, who has played both running back and receiver and returned kicks, has turned heads this spring with his play.

3. Run game. With Jawan Jamison gone, all eyes have turned to Savon Huggins. But the run game hasn't really been consistent this spring, and Rutgers has shuffled its offensive line a little bit to see how different combinations look up front. Unfortunately for the Scarlet Knights, they will be very shorthanded in the spring game with only Huggins and Desmon Peoples healthy and available. P.J. James and Dontea Ayres are out.