HERE'S MY TAKE ON PAC-10 EXPANSION AND IN REALITY ITS THE BEST FOR THE CONFERENCE BY FAR. TO EXPAND TO 12 TEAMS IS THE GOAL THE PAC-10 SHOULD HAVE.

THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE PAC-10 WILL "EVER" CONVINCE EITHER TEXAS OR COLORADO TO LEAVE THEIR COMFORT ZONE THERE IN THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE. SO, IT SHOULD HONESTLY LOOK ELSEWHERE.

I REALIZE THE THOUGHT OF HAVING BOTH BYU AND UTAH SOUNDS LIKE A NEAT IDEA BUT WHAT KIND OF TELEVISION MARKET DO THEY BOTH REPRESENT? YES, ITS TRUE THE MORMON MARKET COULD BE HUGE, BUT KEEP IN MIND, THE MORMON MARKET EXPANDS INTO "EVERY" TEAM IN EVERY CONFERENCE IN THE COUNTRY, NOT JUST TO THE 2 UTAH TEAMS AS MOST OF THE WORLD THINKS IT DOES.

MY THOUGHT IS TO GRAB THE 2 SCHOOLS WITH THE LARGEST TELEVISION MARKET AREAS, THE BEST FACILITIES AVAILABLE, THE 2 WITH CITIES THAT WOULD EASILY SUPPORT THE CONFERENCE IN ALL SPORTS, AND THE 2 SCHOOLS WITH A SOLID "POTENTIAL" TO BRING EXTRA BOWLS TO THE CONFERENCE.

THESE TWO SCHOOLS ALSO WOULD FIT PERFECTLY FOR A DIVISIONAL SPLIT IN THE NEW PAC-12 CONFERENCE.

...AND THESE 2 SCHOOLS ARE SAN DIEGO STATE AND UNLV, AND HERE'S WHY...

BOTH SCHOOLS ARE LOCATED IN THE LARGEST TELEVISION MARKETS AND LARGEST METROPOLITAN AREAS IN THE WESTERN STATES THAT ARE OUTSIDE THE CURRENT PAC-10 SCHOOL BOUNDRIES. BOTH SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA AND LAS VEGAS NEVADA ARE 2 OF THE LARGEST CITIES IN THE COUNTRY AND ARE EXTREMELY PROGRESSIVE IN BUSINESS, POPULATION GROWTH AND BOTH HAVE LOTS OF $$$$.

BOTH SAN DIEGO STATE AND UNLV HAVE FIRST CLASS SPORTS FACILITIES. YES, UNLV FOOTBALL STADIUM WOULD NEED TO BE EXPANDED SOME, BUT THAT WOULD BE AN EASY TASK. (HECK, IF U-CONN CAN BUILD THEMSELVES A BRAND NEW 40,000 SEAT STADIUM IN ONLY THEIR 3RD YEAR OF DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL STATUS IN ANTICIPATION OF JOINING THE BIG EAST IN 2005, THEN SO CAN UNLV). PLUS, SAN DIEGO MAY GET A NEW STADIUM THEMSELVES SOON WITH THE SAN DIEGO CHARGERS LOOKING TO BUILD A NEW FACILITY AND ARE IN CURRENT TALKS WITH THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO, IN WHICH SAN DIEGO STATE WOULD ALSO PLAY. IF NOT, QUALCOMM STADIUM WITH ITS 62,000 SEATS IS STILL A WONDERFUL COLLEGE FOOTBALL VENUE.

BOTH SAN DIEGO (HOLIDAY BOWL) AND LAS VEGAS (LAS VEGAS BOWL) HAVE BOWL GAMES THAT THE PAC-10 IS ALREADY INVOLVED IN AND THOSE PARTICULAR BOWLS WOULD BE "THRILLED" TO HAVE THEIR LOCAL SCHOOLS HAVE A SHOT AT REPRESENTING THE NEW PAC-12 IN THOSE BOWL GAMES.

ALSO, SAN DIEGO STATE HAS IN PLACE WONDERFUL COACHING STAFFS FOR THIS KIND OF EXPANSION. COACH STEVE FISHER IN BASKETBALL, COACH TONY GWYNN IN BASEBALL AND OFFENSIVE WIZARD COACH TOM CRAFT FOR FOOTBALL. THE AZTECS VENUES ARE TOP RATE ALSO, WITH THE NEW 12,000 SEAT COX ARENA FOR BASKETBALL, NEW TONY GWYNN BASEBALL STADIUM, AND THE BEFORE MENTIONED QUALCOMM STADIUM.

LIKEWISE, UNLV'S THOMAS AND MACK CENTER FOR BASKETBALL IS TOP OF THE LINE AS IS THEIR OTHER SPORTS FACILITIES.

HERE IS HOW THE NEW PAC-12 WOULD BREAK DOWN INTO 2 GEOGRAPHICALLY SPLIT DIVISIONS:


NORTHWEST DIVISION:

WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON STATE
OREGON
OREGON STATE
STANFORD
CALIFORNIA


SOUTHWEST DIVISION:

ARIZONA
ARIZONA STATE
USC
UCLA
SDSU
UNLV


EACH DIVISION WOULD CONTAIN SCHOOLS FROM 3 WESTERN STATES. EACH WOULD HAVE AT LEAST 2 SCHOOLS FROM CALIFORNIA, AND BOTH DIVISIONS WOULD BE PERFECTLY DIVIDED FOR INTER-DIVISIONAL COMPETITION AND TRAVEL. DONT BELIEVE ME?, THEN LOOK AT A MAP. THERE ISN'T A BETTER GEOGRAPHIC SET UP FOR THE CREATION OF 2 DIVISIONS THEN THIS ONE.

FOR THOSE NAYSAYERS THAT SAY "HIGH" ACADEMIC STANDARDS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PAC-10 WOULD RULE BOTH SCHOOLS OUT, THEN ANSWER ME THESE SIMPLE QUESTIONS: WERE BOTH ARIZONA AND ARIZONA STATE'S INVITATION INTO THE THEN PACIFIC 8 CONFERENCE BASED ON THEIR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE OR FOR THEIR GEOGRAPHIC FIT? , OR FOR THAT MATTER, DOES USC FIT INTO THE SAME "ACADEMIC" STANDARD AS DOES UCLA OR STANFORD? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

THIS NEW PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOULD TRULY BENEFIT FROM THE ADDITION OF THESE 2 UNIVERSITIES, THEIR RESPECTIVE CITIES AND THEIR LARGE TELEVISION MARKETS.

THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT THE CONFERENCE COULD DO WITH THE COMBINED FORCES OF THE WEST'S LARGEST CITIES AND TELEVISION MARKETS, ...IE:
LOS ANGELES, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO, OAKLAND, SEATTLE, PHOENIX AND LAS VEGAS...AMONG OTHERS.

IT WOULD THEN TRULY DOMINATE THE WEST AND WOULD FURTHER INTRIGUE BOTH NATIONAL RECRUITING AND INTEREST IN THE CONFERENCE AND BOWL POSSIBILITIES.

UMLV into the PAC-10 is a complete joke.The academic level of this school is so far from AAU Pac 10 members that this alone would make such a move totally without basis.The only schools that could be considered would be Utah and BYU.

Does anyone known if Utah could join witout BYU? That'd be a political firestorm in Utah, but if they could actually pull it off, the Pac 10 would only need one more team, and they could wait for some sort of shift in the BE and try to snag Colorado. I just think the state of Utah would go beserk if the Utes left the Cougars behind. Then again, if the Big 12 were still a going concerns minus a few members, I'm sure they'd make room for the Cougars. BYU has to be on the short list of teams that can actually convince a BCS conference to take them. They're just in a tough political situation.

Utah and BYU make the most practical sense here, but Dawgand Duck is right on...they (actually BYU) are not "politically tenable" to the Pac-10. They bring athletics/academics and a logistical fit that is the most amenable, but BYU will not be accepted by the greater group of the Pac-10.

Colorado has the best political fit with academics and athletics but they need a partner. Not certain if that is Colorado State or not. They would have to be lured from the Big 12 which is problematic.

The e-mail that suggests the perfect geographical fit of SDState and UNLV (AztecJeff) shows a lack of understanding of longstanding rivalries of the Pac-10! Sorry Aztec, but any split of the pac10 MUST have a southern division of ASU/UA, USC/UCLA, CAL/Stanfurd.

A number of years back a former AD of USC came in and dropped CAL off of USC's football schedule to pick up a national game with Oklahoma. USC alumni went nuts. The alumni of all the California schools look forward to a trip north or south every year.

So, UCLA/CAL/Stanfurd/USC always play each other in football. A split that seperates these schools results in a schedule much like what you see in the SEC where some schools play once every 5-10 years so you can keep traditional rivals playing every year.

Thus any expanded institution into the Pac-10 has to play in the Northern Division with UO/OSU/Wash/Wazzou. That's if you want a balanced football schedule. Your candidates are limited and look like they come out of Utah or Colorado.

Because of this I see no forseeable expansion in the Pac-10. 8-)