Is U.S. Bancorp becoming too big to fail? Probably not

Last Friday, regulators seized nine banks, the most on a single day since the financial crisis began more than two years ago. Sure, it was a sign of just how sick many financial institutions have become, but it wasn't all bad news. That's especially true for U.S. Bancorp (USB), the Minnesota-based regional bank picked by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take over all nine of the failed banks' branches and deposits.

U.S. Bancorp has emerged as the past year's biggest buyer of failed banks. And Friday's haul was its largest yet. It took over California, Texas, Illinois and Arizona-based subsidiaries of FBOP Corp., a privately owned bank holding company with headquarters outside Chicago. The deals bring U.S. Bancorp some $18 billion in assets and 150 branches -- and raise an interesting question: Just how big can it grow by feeding on failed banks' remains?