Making the morning rounds.

• But with high-altitude conversion rate’s that’s only … wait, no, that’s baking. It would cost the University of Colorado about $9 million to decamp to the Pac-10. And why is that a problem, again?

The athletic department has an operating budget of about $45 million, which means a forfeiture of roughly 10%. That’s a lot of money for a department that balked at firing Dan Hawkins because a $3 million separation package was viewed as too steep a price.

• Jo-seee, Jose Jose Jose. One of 2010′s most excellently-monikered recruits has a knack for following drama. (Jose Jose’s first two intended destinations were Tennessee and South Florida.) Last week, however, drama found him in the form of assault and weapons charges, and now UCF has withdrawn Jose’s scholarship. So much for our long-held dream of hearing less-literate fans call him “Josie” all year.

• Broncos move in sinister ways. Boise State’s defense is down one coordinator to the coaching carousel, and now finds itself short a safety as spring practice kicks off. Jason Robinson, key participant in the Broncos’ Fiesta Bowl fake punt gambit, is serving an indefinite suspension for the ever-popular Undisclosed Violation Of Team Rules. The backup junior from L.A. saw playing time in eleven games last year, recording a high of five solo tackles against Hawaii.

• Further blue-turf blues. In other BSU woes, we learn that their newly retooled offensive line contains only one player who hasn’t been kept from playing due to injury or been shuffled to a new position. For an offense that relies so much on flinging the ball great distances at great speed, and a team that’s a trendy pick to contend for next year’s national title, solidification here is obviously crucial. Hope Kellen Moore’s feet are as fleet as his throwing arm.

• This is some new definition of “top” of which we were not previously aware. The top college sports towns: usual suspects Ann Arbor and Austin, along with the obviously-named trio of State College, College Park, and … College Station?

• They call him “The Bear Cub.” We can’t prove it, but we’d be willing to bet our grad school fund some variant of this article has been published, somewhere, every single day since Nick Saban stepped onto Tuscaloosa tarmac.

Quickly: Members of last fall’s Spartan melee are sentenced to probation and community service … Michigan’s new AD is in RichRod’s corner, for the moment … Son-of-Sims adjusts to life on Rocky Top … Clay Travis’s Tecmo Bowl magnum opus is a must-read for aging 8-bit aficionados … and Mike Leach’s deposition starts next week, so we should be good for entertainment for another month or so (please let it be webcast please let it be webcast).

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Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.

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