— Filed under “obviously we all know nothing about anything,” SMU fired AD (and former Navy associate AD) Steve Orsini. As an outsider, the move is a bit of a shock since it appears on the surface that all of SMU’s athletic vectors are up. This is one of those things reminding us that when all we know is what’s on the surface, we don’t really know anything at all. One writer in Fort Worth panders to his audience by wondering if TCU’s successes influenced the move. Kate Hairopoulos reports the far more likely scenario that it was more about clashes with SMU’s president, R. Gerald Turner. Whatever the reason, I can’t imagine that Orsini will be out of a job for long.

— It’s official: Old Dominion is joining Conference USA. As Navy people, a lot of us have spent considerable time in & around Norfolk and are quite familiar with ODU. This is crazy! In a good way, though. I’ve only recently become used to the idea of the Monarchs having a football team. But a I-A team? Bananas. I’d say to get them on the schedule, but that’ll be hard to do once Navy is in the Big East. But it HAS to happen, right? Meanwhile, Pete Medhurst wonders what it means for the future of the CAA.

— Pre-Snap Read continues with its look at every I-A program, including Navy opponents Central Michigan and Troy (plus a bit more on Troy).

— I’m telling you, it’s consolidation.

— Lafayette lacrosse coach Terry Mangan resigned. The Leopards had half of a good season in 2010. That’s about it.

— A life well lived.

— Finally, I will be a guest on the Three Point Stance show tomorrow, talking Navy and the Big East and whatever else comes up. It’s archived afterwards, so you don’t need to plan your Saturday night around me. Because you know you were totally thinking about it.