News and links roundup for 5/7

• Jabu Lovelace and Devin McCourty have been honored for maintaining a high GPA.
• You'd be surprised at the two programs directly behind Rutgers in the definitive list of 2010 spring game attendance figures.
• Lots of Big Ten expansion news over the past few days. Via Brian Bennett, UCF is planning to spend millions on facility upgrades.

Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist weighs in on the math behind Big Ten Expansion.

"Let's say in some of these areas you're getting a dollar a month (extra from cable subscribers for having the Big Ten Network)," Zimbalist said. "Each household is $12 a year. So if you add 3 million households, that's $36 million in revenue. On top of that, you'll get more revenue from advertising.

Hence, the impetus for going up to 14 or even 16 teams.

If you'd asked me 24 hours ago, I would have said the Big Ten would add three teams: Rutgers, Missouri and Nebraska. Then I spoke to someone involved in the expansion talks, and he told me: 16 is more likely than 14 and 14 is more likely than 12.

So this ISN'T all about killing the Big East and/or Big XII? That's from a long Q&A worth reading in its entirety. Can't wait to see Greenstein's piece on the TV angle next week.

• Jack Corcoran heads to Houston next weekend for his first rookie minicamp.You can catch Jack on the radio today at 3 pm.

"This is silly at this point — this is crazy, this is absurd," said Buono, the Senate Majority Leader. "I want the budget, and I want it now. What are you trying to keep from us?"

That reaction is understandable, considering that the NJSEA is requesting a $32.9 million subsidy, on top of over double that in debt service. Where's the proportionality and outrage? You can thank Xanadu for croaking, and the sweetheart deal for the new Meadowlands Stadium.