11.   But he said the conference had no say in whom teams schedule for nonconference games.

12.   But there is no free lunch in politics, and many doubt whether the conference will have lasting results.

13.   Despite its obvious political tones, the conference had spontaneous, moving moments.

14.   Each conference has an eighth-place battle.

15.   Each conference has four guards, four forwards, two centers, and two wild cards.

16.   Each conference now has three divisions, one with six teams and the others with five.

17.   Every other conference has a training-table meal three times a day.

18.   For the seventh straight year, the conference will only have one team in the tournament.

19.   Giordano said the Italian bishops conference had no written procedures on sexual abuse of children, which he suggested would be needed only in case of a multifaceted scandal.

20.   He concedes, however, that the conference has the power to dissociate itself from a member organization -- and that this has never happened.