The University of Nebraska has joined the Big Ten conference.

The announcement has been anticipated all week and is the second in a line of several expected realignment moves from teams in the Big 12.

Legend Bill Mallory says adding Nebraska is a major step for the Big Ten, which is looking to beef up its conference to enhance the Big Ten Network.

“I’m just kind of sitting back, and I wasn’t sure just how it was going to work out,” Mallory said. “I think (former Legends Poll voter) Tom Osborne felt it was a good move. Without question, it will add to the quality of the Big Ten with Nebraska coming in.

“With Nebraska, you’re talking about one of the top programs. Bo Pelini has done a great job getting that program back. I had a chance to see them play Colorado last year and they’re on their way back. It’s certainly going to upgrade the conference, that’s for sure.”

One major question mark for the Big Ten now surrounds the team from South Bend, Ind. Can the Big Ten flex its muscles enough to secure Notre Dame?

“When I was in the Big Ten, we really tried to get Notre Dame,” Mallory said. “But they had that independent mindset. They may have to change.

“There’s been a study done that they would make more money if they would come into the Big Ten. You know, that Big Ten Network is making money. They would do better if they were in the Big Ten.”

Mallory says that Notre Dame has been wrapped up in the tradition of being independent and it may haunt the school this time.

“I heard a comment made by one sports writer and I thought it made some sense,” Mallory said. “With all this happening, if Notre Dame stays independent, they may have a problem with their scheduling. It’s going to really have an effect on them with the BCS.

“They’re going to have to take a hard look, I think, at where they’re going. They may have to reconsider and decide that the Big Ten looks pretty good to them.”

The Pac-10 announced yesterday that the University of Colorado agreed to leave the Big 12 and join its conference.

With that, Colorado became the first of six Big 12 schools rumored to jump ship and head west.

Former Colorado head coach Bill Mallory was a bit stunned by the news, but he says Colorado could benefit from the move.

“I had the opportunity to coach at the University of Colorado,” Mallory said. “We used to play Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and so forth. And if that’s what Colorado wants to do, I think it’s a good fit for them to go to the Pac-10.”

Mallory says that joining the Pac-10 not only benefits the school monetarily, but it works out geographically for Colorado as well.

“Colorado has always recruited the west coast — particularly California — very well for the most part,” he said. “The move should enhance that.”

Another Big 12 North school is expected to formally announce a decision to leave the conference this afternoon. Nebraska is rumored to be joining the Big Ten, a move that will enhance the competitiveness of the conference and the reach of the Big Ten Network.

Once Nebraska leaves, only four Big 12 North schools will remain, and most of the Big 12 South schools are expected to leave next week.

“That’s had to be a hard hit,” Mallory said, “particularly in that North division of the Big 12 with (Nebraska and Colorado) leaving. You just wonder, too, what the heck is going to happen to Kansas and Kansas State.”

Time heals everything.

It may not keep the Big 12 intact, but over time, we will all adjust to the new collegiate conference landscape. At least that’s what former Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum believes.

Slocum was the Aggies head coach in 1994 when the Big Eight joined forces with four schools from the Southwestern Conference — including Texas A&M — to form the Big 12.

“In the back of my mind, when we put the Big 12 together and had realignments around college football,” Slocum said in a phone interview, “I never thought that it would be the last time (conference realignment) would ever happen. Because the same things that drove it back then will continue to drive it. And that is the money.”

The Pac-10 hopes to form the first super conference and establish a television network like the Big Ten Network that will create additional revenue opportunities for the conference and the schools involved.

According to orangebloods.com, who first reported it, the Pac-10 has extended invites to six schools from the Big 12, including Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado.

Slocum says that the driving forces for expansion are “the money, the exposure, and how you can best position yourself to take advantage of the interest by the fans and the interest in seeing the games and the interest in having the good matchups.”

On Wednesday, Nebraska reportedly decided to leave the Big 12 to join the Big Ten after receiving clearance from its board of regents. A formal announcement is expected on Friday.

According to orangebloods.com, Nebraska leaving has doomed the Big 12. The Web site reported that Texas officials gathered their coaching staffs and told them that they tried to save the Big 12 but could not.

“When you go through these things, they’re painful at the time,“ Slocum said. “But, you know, college football will survive, the individual schools will survive. It will take time to see the overall effects of it, what it ends up being.

“As you look at this, back when we went through this with the Big 12, when we combined the old Big 8 conference and the Southwest Conference. There were parts of those leagues that I’m sure a lot of people hated to lose. I know as a long time follower of the SWC and a coach in the SWC, I hated that we had to give that up.

“At the same time, there were a lot of positives about the Big 12. It raised the level of competition, it raised the level of exposure that the teams got. And certainly raised the level of financial support that we got out of television. I think overall, it was good for us, it was good for the schools.”

Slocum says that eventually the coaches at schools in the newly formed conferences will adjust. College football might look different to fans, but the hype will grow and the new matchups will become more comfortable.

“It takes time to develop the familiarity,” Slocum said. “You know, every school around the country has teams that they’ve played for a long period of time. You know those people, you know their fans, you know their teams. But it takes a while to really develop the appreciation for the rivalries — the new rivalries — that comes out of league expansion and people being partners in an enterprise that were not partners for long.

“And when this re-shuffling occurs — if it does in fact occur — then there will be a starting over for some of these schools and it will just take some time for these schools to get accustomed to their new homes.”