Welcome to the first part of my series of columns regarding the persistant rumors of conference expansion that keep floating around. This week a story came out on the radio that the Big 10 Conference had extended offers to Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers, which is only adding to the fuel from the fire caused by the persistant rumors that conferences are looking to expand. Of course these are only rumors and this column is merely my opinion with the purpose of stimulating conversation. Nothing written in this column should be taken as fact, as it is merely an opinion from another guy with a laptop computer and a website.