It's not even national signing day yet, and already the topic used to pass time in summer is moving to the forefront of college football discussion.

Let the conference expansion and realignment talk begin — with a side dish of BCS debate.

The first statements come from the Rockies, where the Mountain West Conference is saying thanks-but-no-thanks to overtures from Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference.

The Mountain West, fresh off the best football season in its history, is lobbying to receive a Bowl Championship Series automatic bid. But adding Boise State as a 10th member would bring no BCS guarantees at this point, so the league will stand pat at nine members and turn its attention to altering the criteria for BCS auto-bid status.

"We've run all sorts of models," MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson told USA Today. "And there's no model where a 10th member would guarantee us automatic access."

BCS rules allow for the conference automatic bids to be reviewed every four years, meaning the earliest the status quo could change is 2012. The MWC will lobby for the evaluation window to be shortened.

There is a case to be made that the league has been at least as competitive as the ACC and Big East of late. Utah's win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to cap its second undefeated season in five years highlights a rise that isn't limited to 2008 or to the Utes. BYU and TCU are legitimate top-20 programs now, and the league's bottom tier also has been competitive against BCS-league teams, too.

You can't blame the MWC for trying, but remember that the BCS isn't really about championships or fairness. It's about money, power and influence.

The ACC, SEC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10 aren't going to be eager to share their money. Don't expect other "non-BCS" leagues (C-USA, WAC, MAC and Sun Belt) to show a lot of support for the MWC either. They'll perceive that as less access for themselves.

A more likely move, with some prodding from Congress, is more at-large access . . . perhaps a guaranteed berth to the highest-ranked non-BCS league champ regardless of ranking (currently, a team must be ranked 12th or higher).

The solution most likely to solve issues without total upheaval of bowls: adoption of the plus-one, championship-game model and adding another game (Cotton Bowl or Capital One Bowl?) to the BCS lineup. Unfortunately, that idea doesn't have much traction.

So don't expect much change.

Other BCS tidbits:

The Boise-to-the-MWC-talk is over . . . for now. It will probably be revisited. The precedent is set for rankings to follow a team changing leagues. The Big East held on to its BCS bid, for example, in part because it was allowed to count new member Louisville's ranking achieved in Conference USA. The MWC doesn't need Boise now, but don't think for a second it won't consider the Broncos later in the review period if necessary.

How ironic would it be for those C-USA East teams pining for a Big East bid to finally get the call . . . only to see the Big East lose its bid to the Mountain West? That's not likely, but it'd be a hoot.

The Big East's rankings over the past four years have been buoyed by C-USA additions Louisville, Cincinnati and USF. The Mountain West's claim has gotten a boost from TCU, another former C-USA team. Does that mean those programs took off because they got new, better conference addresses? Or does it mean the old C-USA was better than anyone realized?

This & that

In a sign of the tough economic times, Boise State has decided it won't give Coach Chris Petersen a contract extension despite his leading the Broncos to their second undefeated regular season in three years. He has two years remaining on a deal that will pay him about $1.1 million in 2009.

Where will former Miami QB Robert Marve transfer? We won't know the answer until after signing day, his high-school coach at Tampa Plant told the Tampa Tribune. Marve has narrowed his choices to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Texas Tech and USF and will wait to see who those schools sign at his position.

Minnesota's turnaround from one win in 2007 to a bowl game last season was fueled by a weak nonconference schedule. But no one can accuse the Gophers of overindulging on cupcakes in 2010 or 2011. Minnesota this week announced a home-and-home with USC, with the Trojans visiting Minneapolis in 2010.

It didn't take long for the basketball coaches on my hot seat list from last week to start getting the pink slips. Last Monday, Alabama accepted the, ahem, resignation of Mark Gottfried. On Thursday, Georgia fired Dennis Felton. Anyone else smelling a Tide-Bulldogs bidding war over VCU's Anthony Grant? Stay tuned . . . though the Tide might have its eyes on Missouri's Mike Anderson. And if I'm Auburn's Jeff Lebo, Maryland's Gary Williams or Oregon's Ernie Kent, I'm very nervous that I'm next.

Are you ready for some Bracket Busters? The matchups for ESPN's annual made-for-TV, mid-majors showcase was to be announced on Monday. That's 51 games involving 102 teams, set for Feb. 20-21. Thirteen games will be aired on one of three ESPN networks. Butler and Saint Mary's of California are the highest-ranked teams participating.

Speraw, Hamilton deserve credit

UCF's Kirk Speraw and Florida State's Leonard Hamilton are producing two of the better coaching performances in college basketball this season.

Both remade their rosters, but their many newcomers aren't playing like newcomers. UCF (14-6, 4-2) is currently tied for second place in Conference USA while FSU (16-5, 3-3) is off to its best start in 20 years and came within a few seconds of a shocking ACC upset of North Carolina.

Both teams were picked to finish near the bottom of their respective leagues but got confidence-building wins in non-conference play (UCF over New Mexico; FSU over Florida, Cincinnati and Cal). Both coaches are successfully plugging the new pieces around all-star guards (UCF around Jermaine Taylor and FSU around Toney Douglas).

Speraw has never gotten much credit for doing more with less in his long tenure at UCF. With new facilities and improved recruiting, his program is close to becoming one of the better ones in C-USA. Hamilton hasn't taken FSU to the NCAA Tournament in six previous years, but this team is in position to end that drought.

There is good talent in place at both schools to indicate patience with the coaches will soon be rewarded.

New postseason tournament set

Now this is March Madness. Did you know we now have a fourth Division I postseason college basketball tournament? What, you mean you didn't know we already had three?

The CollegeInsider.com Tournament will feature a 16-team field chosen from among the teams that don't make the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament. The "event" will compete for teams with the Gazelle Group's College Basketball Invitational, or CBI, which debuted last year. Tulsa won the inaugural CBI title though it's doubtful many people noticed.

It means 129 college basketball teams will participate in the postseason this year.

What it really means: College basketball, already football BCS-ified with the silly "non-BCS" labels attached to programs that have Final Four banners hanging from the rafters, more closely resembles college football's ridiculous bowl system. Almost every team with a winning record gets a postseason trip. Many schools will lose money on the games but will play for the "opportunity" and "exposure."

Fun, fun, fun.