A week ago, we took a look at the few schools left to fill the open fifth and sixth slots on the Syracuse Orange 2012 football schedule. Since then, Doc Gross put the kibosh on the Rutgers two-fer, the Boise State possibility remains just that and the Orange still have two open spots on their schedule.

Hopefully, the gears are in motion to fill them sooner than later because quite a few of the schools on that list have filled their open spots.

Arkansas and Rutgers agreed to a series, Houston completed it's schedule with North Texas, both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State filled their two open slots, Middle Tennessee grabbed a game against McNeese, Texas A&M added two games, UAB filled its schedule, UL-Lafayette is all set and UTEP doesn't need us.

And so, removing the current Big East schools from the mix, that leaves...

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It's a tradition unlike any other. The annual Syracuse Orange Football Player Who Will Miss Spring Practice Due To An Injury announcement.

Fact. If the annual annual Syracuse Orange Football Player Who Will Miss Spring Practice Due To An Injury announcement emerges during February and sees its own shadow, then there is six more weeks of winter ahead. If it does not see its shadow, spring has sprung!

Syracuse football center Rob Trudo will miss 2012 Spring football practice due to a lower body injury that will require surgery. His status for the 2012 season will be evaluated throughout the rehabilitation process and announced prior to the start of pre-season camp. Trudo did not play in any games in his first season with the Orange in 2011.

Trudo joins linebacker Marquis Spruill, receiver Alec Lemon and cornerback Keon Lyn on the Syracuse Orange Football Player Who Will Miss Spring Practice Due To An Injury list. They officially have enough people to play a really solid game of Mahjong.

By the way, Spring Practice is officially scheduled for March 20 to April 21, in case you were wondering.

I'm sure you've seen the story of the football recruit Alvin Kamara, who received 105 letters from the Alabama Crimson Tide to come play for them. I skimmed it initially and didn't realize that there's a Syracuse Orange connection.

Kamara, who rushed for 1,500-plus yards in 2011, is a solid all-around back known for his exceptional speed. He received his first offer last fall from Syracuse.

Quick off the draw, Cuse. Nice! Of course, our plan to just hope that no one else notices a four-star talent in the heart of SEC country might not have been a sound one. Alabama and Syracuse are two of the nine schools that have offered to the RB.

While it might be a foregone conclusion to think the Orange are out of the race, I'd like to remind you that Tyrone Wheatley is involved. And don't you dare ever give up on Tyrone Wheatley.

"Right now, I don't have any leaders, but I'll say a few schools stand out a little bit," Kamara said. "Alabama, Georgia and Syracuse. Recruiting wise, they stay in touch with me the most.

"Coach [Bryan] McClendon at Georgia stays in touch with me; Coach [Tyrone] Wheatley at Syracuse keeps in touch with me."

Tyrone, you know what to do now. 105 letters? Forget that....105 DAILY VISITS!

As we all know, Syracuse is freaking out right now over it's need to fill two spots on the 2012 football schedule. You know what would go a long way towards solving that problem? If one of those new Big East schools got their act together and joined the conference a year early.

Boise State made is sound like it was pretty impossible last week. This week, they're a little more open to the idea:

"Before we make any move, we need to make sure we cover all our expenses," [athletic director Mark] Coyle said. "If a transition takes place now, there are expenses we need to cover before we make a move."

It would cost Boise State between $7.5 million and $9 million to leave the Mountain West this fall. The Broncos could owe the Western Athletic Conference - where their other spots programs are headed - additional money as well for joining that league a year early.

If only the Big East had $20M burning a hole in its pocket to cover those costs. Oh, right...

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Squashing the hopes and dreams of Bronx-based Syracuse and Rutgers fans, Syracuse Orange AD DOCTOR Daryl Gross appeared on ESPN CNY's Upon Further Review Tuesday and put the kibosh on this whole "play Rutgers twice" nonsense. (The full interview is in the audio vault on espncny.com)

No. Not an option and I guess the simplest way to answer it is just no. It's just all wrong. It's not even an option. We're playing at the New Meadowlands next year and we have great respect for those folks, what they've set up for us. It'll be like a bowl game for us and we'll have all the trains and buses and everything going down, so that's our New York game. But besides that, we won't be playing...home and home with members of the same conference.

If you read between the lines, something tells me we're not ALLOWED to play a regular-season NYC game the same season we're playing at MetLife, which would make a ton of sense.

Gross also talked about West Virginia leaving and why that deal doesn't make sense for Syracuse.

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Just like every other school in the Big East, the Syracuse Orange have a scheduling problem. The 2012 football schedule was supposed to include the TCU Horned Frogs and the West Virginia Mountaineers and now it will include neither of them.

That means that a schedule that once seemed complete with four non-conference games must now include at least five, if not six.

It's a little late in the game to be scrambling for non-conference opponents, especially since all of your conference-mates are in the same scramble you are.

The obvious filler is to add a FCS opponent and the Orange did that with Stony Brook. The Seawolves join the Northwestern Wildcats, Minnesota Golden Gophers and USC Trojans.

There's that rumor about Syracuse and Rutgers playing twice next season and considering no one seems to be denying it, I'd say it's in play. It would call for the Orange and Scarlet to meet in Piscataway as planned but then hold a second, "non-conference" game at Yankee Stadium on another date. It may sound stupid but if the only alternative is a road game against Florida State, I'll take the Scarlet Knights in The Battle Of Pinstripe Bowl Champions any day.

(FYI, that would also mean Syracuse would play in Yankee Stadium and MetLife Stadium in the same season, giving DOC Gross some major wood)

For the moment, let's just work on what we know for sure, that Syracuse absolutely needs a fifth non-conference game. Matt's College Sports Media Blog did the Lord's work and compiled a list of every team that still needs to finalize it's non-conference schedule. Excluding Big East opponents, here they are:

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For months now, John Marinatto has been all like, "The bylaws are the bylaws are the bylaws." But now that he's loaded up his coffers with storied football programs like San Diego State and Memphis, he's all like "Bylaws schmylaws."

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto says his league "might be open to a discussion" about allowing Syracuse and Pittsburgh to join the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2013 football season.

"But given the strength and speed of our expansion efforts, I think our board might be open to a discussion about 2013," Marinatto said in a telephone interview.

In other words, Marinatto was full of it the entire time with the whole hardline act, just as we suspected.

With West Virginia flying the coop, there's just no way he can honestly keep the Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers in the Big East beyond next season. He knows that and about all he can do at this point is try to save as much face as possible, which, ain't much.

The dream of a one-season, 15-team, Big East mega-conference is almost dead but, hey, it sounded good at the time. And by good I mean legally-binding.

The real question for Syracuse is how we fill in our schedule in 2012. There's still a chance Boise is coming, which will solve the major issue. However, there's always this Rutgers two-fer offer as well. And SU still hasn't filled it's final non-con game (Hi Akron!).

We'll deal with 2012 as it comes, happy in the knowledge that it's only a matter of time before we're out by the 2013 season.

No surprises here. According to Brett McMurphy, West Virginia's last day in the Big East will be June 30, 2012 and when the clock strikes midnight, they will become Texas' bitch a Big 12 team.

As for those thinking the Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers might try to start super-negotiations to try and get out of the conference and into the ACC, don't get excited cause it ain't happening.

Sources told CBSSports.com that Pittsburgh and Syracuse won’t try to leave this summer, but will attempt to negotiate deals to allow them to join the ACC a year early in 2013. Unlike West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse have not pursued any legal action to get out of the Big East’s 27-month exit requirement and leave before 2014.

Brett pontificates that by not trying to force their way out now and causing chaos for the five remaining Big East football schools, SU and Pitt can use their newfound goodwill to negotiate down the $20M exit fee that West Virginia paid to something a bit more manageable.

It's a foregone conclusion that the Orange will be in the ACC in 2013 so it's time to just settle in for on more year here. That means we'll always have the Schwartzwalder Trophy to keep us warm, DC alums can look forward to at least one more Georgetown game down in the Capitol and assuming Boise State joins the conference a year early I'll see you in Idaho sometime in October.

The good news is that Marinatto finally came to his senses and blinked. That means he'll blink again next year when we want to leave.