21.   In another sign of discord, the conference has yet to resolve whether voting on the treaty will proceed by open or closed ballot.

22.   It freed up a bowl slot the conference would have had to give the Irish if Notre Dame had become bowl-eligible.

23.   Last year, the conference had to battle followers of William Faulkner to win financing from the college town where the Nobel laureate lived.

24.   Like the FFA, the conference has deep roots here.

25.   No other conference has one that is as versatile.

26.   No conference had as many teams ranked as high.

27.   No other conference has more than two teams left.

28.   No other conference has that many teams ranked among the scoring leaders.

29.   On Thursday, Stephen J. Ledogar, the American delegate to the talks, welcomed both sets of suggestions and said the conference now had the ideas it needed.

30.   She suggested that if the conference had something to hide, it would not issue a news release announcing the campaign.