Before the Dark Period that started late last week, those insiders were chirping. Early last week, the insiders that I trusted said that they expected that their sources were going to go dark. They also even before this date, successfully predicted a few things.

1. Before the July 19 teleconference, some well connected insiders (from chat and my FO lists) said that expansion was happening. Meanwhile the national media as well as the Big 12 media were all saying that expansion was either dead or tabled for a future date. Up until Saturday evening I was politely mocking (i am not as brutal as some of you) those that were saying that it wasn't happening. I got an FO message from someone on here that I trust, that they were going to vote to explorer expansion. I then quieted my skepticism and waited. Tuesday afternoon happened and I hear two different Big 12 guys on the radio that morning and early afternoon say that expansion was not happening (one guy from the Austin American Statesman). With my skepticism still there, I did not know what to expect when Bowlsby announced that the Big 12 was exploring expansion. My point? The insiders in this case were right.

By the way these insiders were also the ones who were saying back during the KS and KN stuff to not worry and that KS was going to be hired. I did not think KN was a fit because he is an option guy and would want to bring it to BYU.

2. After the 19th. Rumors went crazy. There were some interesting things that happened. First. Many insiders were chirping the similar things, but this is how things played out in just about every case.

First...A trusted "insider" would present information usually in chat, or FO messages. This information in every case had sources that were such that there was at least a moderate degree to high degree of accuracy. With the exception of only one insider, they were all positive. THey ranged from things are looking very good to BYU was essentially "In" but never did they say that it was a done deal completely and that announcement was pending.

Then...other people would say fro their source, "It was a done deal" and that an announcement was imminent. When I was able to question them about who their source was, it was clear that these sources were much more dubious.

If one were to apply the degree of separation rule, The fewer degrees from the source, the more likely the source had legit information.

So in my above discussion, my trusted insiders were people that were either 1 or 2 degrees from the main source itself. And again, their info was always preceded by a warning of caution. Information was and is fluid and facts can change very rapidly. With the other people it was either unverifiable source or a 3rd or 4th degree of separation. In every case those predictions to date have been wrong.

SO, while some say (TNT for one) that all insiders have been speculating, I will politely disagree. There have been CB insiders that have had information that has been proven to be true. And interesting those sources have all gone dark. Whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing is subject to speculation. I think it is a good thing because it may mean that things are very close and they don't want to mess these things up.