Five-Step Drop: Texas A&M Shouldn't Hold Its Breath for SEC Move

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1. When the last wave of conference realignment rippled across the never-quiet pond of college football, one strong rumor linked Texas A&M and the SEC. After Texas signed its deal with ESPN to create its own TV network, Aggies looked even more longingly at America's most elite football conference and began to agitate for A&M to break ranks with the Big 12 -- a conference which seems doomed anyway. Frank the Tank of Frank the Tank's Slant has looked deeply into the "A&M to the SEC" movement and has a simple message for the Aggie faithful: don't hold your breath waiting for this move to happen. "The SEC invites to A&M and OU were completely reactionary," he writes. "Once the Big 12 was saved and superconferences weren't formed, the reasoning for the SEC to expand evaporated."

2. As if there weren't already enough reasons why Lane Kiffin's tenure at Tennessee was a complete disaster, here's one more. Safety Janzen Jackson, a Kiffin recruit "the player widely considered to be [Tennessee's] best heading into spring practice" according to GoVolsExtra.com, has left the team and the school. Coach Derek Dooley said, "His withdrawal from school has nothing to do with disciplinary reasons on the football team and everything to do with a continuing battle of deep personal issues, of which we're very supportive of." Yahoo!'s Matt Hinton notes that six of the eight four- or five-star players Kiffin signed in his 2009 class are no longer with the team.

3. Washaun Ealey, Georgia's leading rusher last season, has been suspended from the team for disciplinary reasons. ESPN.com reports that Ealey's suspension came after he failed to show up for a scheduled disciplinary run. Ealey has been in trouble before; he missed Georgia's season opener last year because of an arrest after a traffic accident. It could be bad news for Georgia's running game unless backup Caleb King, who has had some issues of his own, regains his academic eligibility. King was held out of the Liberty Bowl for academic reasons.

4. Sticking with the thoroughly depressing theme of athletes behaving badly, three Virginia players have been suspended indefinitely for assaulting three men in an apartment near James Madison University. The alleged assault took place Jan. 29. Cornerback Devin Wallace, lineback Ausar Walcott, and center Mike Price are the players involved. In a statement, Cavaliers coach Mike London said, "I am disappointed in the conduct of these individuals, and the fact they chose not to represent themselves in the appropriate manner."

5. Okay, quit staring into your coffee pondering if there's any inherent meaning to life. Not all the news in college football is bad. Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer Press had a deep conversation with new Minnesota coach Jerry Kill in which the head Gopher opened up about his struggle with cancer. "Was I scared? My dad had died from the same disease (cancer) not very long before that. But, you know what, I said, 'Hey, you're a coach. You've told those kids to fight through adversity. You told them to battle every single ounce of their life. This is a great way for you to give an example to those damn kids. You're going to compete.'"