During the past couple of weeks, I’ve been asked a few times when I was going to do another conference realignment update in the wake of the ACC announcing its granting of rights agreement that will run through 2026-27.

I certainly understand the interest, and, yes, the ACC news was huge for the realignment landscape. But by huge we’re talking huge in the sense that it may have put an end to the movement for the foreseeable future.

Throughout the wild and crazy past three years of realignment, we’ve talked a lot about how this move or that response might be the key to realignment and full-on pandemonium. But it seems clear to me that the ACC locking up its members for such a long period of time makes things as stable as they have been in years, at least throughout college athletics’ major conferences.

Could something still happen? Sure. Anything’s possible. We’ve seen and experienced that too many times throughout the past few summers to sit here and say that this means, with 100 percent certainty, that things are done. But while it might not be 100 percent certain, it seems as if it’s as close as it can get – maybe 99.9 percent.

There are those out there who believe that the granting of rights agreements don’t mean jack. I’ve heard from them countless times throughout my coverage of conference realignment and, while I understand where they’re coming from, I’m much more inclined to believe the college administrators in multiple conferences who have told me that such agreements are worth their weight in gold.

With that thought in mind, it makes sense to deduce that things will be quiet for a while now that the ACC is solid again. And I gotta admit, my hat’s off to that conference for getting it done. I really believed the ACC was flirting with disaster.

After all, for the past year or so the ACC’s vulnerability has been seen as the one domino that could send the whole thing tumbling once again. If this ACC school or that one left for this conference or that one, then others would be forced to react, both those schools left in the ACC and the other conferences trying to keep up.

Finally, it looks as if the Big 12 can tell people it’s happy at 10 teams and the rest of the world can actually believe them.

So what does that mean for the future? Well, from what I can gather it means this: Proceed with caution.

I’ve had enough talks with enough people throughout the Big 12 to understand that the league will never again be caught off guard. Every time the conference’s athletic directors get together or every time its governing body meets, the topic of realignment and/or expansion comes up. Sometimes it’s just for 2 minutes to make sure things are still on track and other times it’s for a little longer, with conference officials bringing key questions or concerns to the table for discussion. Consider it Big 12 officials staying on top of things rather than waiting for things to play out before rolling up their sleeves.

And consider that yet another legit sign of the strength and vitality of the Big 12.

A recent article from CBS Sports indicates that the Big Ten and commissioner Jim Delany had talked to as many as six schools during recent months about the idea of expansion. The article claims that the talks were of a serious nature and that things may have heated up considerably had the ACC not locked up its members with the GOR.

Who knows? It’s very possible that there’s some truth to that and also possible that the whole thing is just more posturing by the man who many believe started the realignment madness in the first place.

Either way, thanks to the ACC, we don’t have to find out.

Delany did not disclose the names of the schools he talked to and I can’t imagine that he ever will. Was KU one of them? I suppose it’s possible, perhaps even likely, but from everything I’ve been told, it sure doesn’t sound like KU had any kind of contact with the Big Ten about realignment.

Now, it’s important to remember that contact can be made in both official and unofficial manners. Maybe KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger never talked to Delany about realignment, but maybe a friend of a friend of a friend at KU did.

Again, we’ll probably never know and we’ll probably never need to.

From where I sit, that’s the best news to come from realignment in years.

I didn’t write this to proclaim that realignment is over once and for all. None of us are naïve enough — any more — to actually think we’re done with this demon for good. It’ll come up again, most likely whenever someone gets upset with the way things are run in their conference and certainly whenever these various granting of rights agreements close in on expiration. But for now, it seems as if we can safely get back to mowing the lawn, enjoying cook outs and diving into other elements of sports coverage in the summer instead of tracking the madness of conference realignment.

Time will tell. And you know we’ll stay on top of it.

Now, get out there and enjoy this weather…. Oh, wait.