Pac-10 Expansion Discussion Roundup

The University of Colorado being one of the focal points of the recent Pac-10 expansion rumors has generated a lot of really great discussion here on The Ralphie Report.  As you might imagine the subject peaks the interest of all sorts of college football fans, especially those within the Pacific-10 conference, and I wanted to make sure you were all aware of some of the great stuff around the SBNation network.

 Addicted to Quack - Eastward, Ho! Pac-10 Expansion Will Happen, But Only If Colorado Wants To Play

Utah would jump into the Pac-10 in a heartbeat.  Colorado is a much more interesting question.  Other than Nebraska in football, they don't have any particularly great rivalries in the Big Twelve.  But they do have a long history with many of those schools as a long time Big 8 member.  That said, they seem to have a profile much more like a Pac-10 school than a Big XII school, being a large liberal arts college in a cosmopolitan area and a campus that seems more liberal that the rest of the Big XII.  I think it would be easier for Colorado to recruit California as a member of the Pac-10 then it is for them to recruit Texas as a member of the Big XII.

 Bruins Nation - Expanding To Pac-12? No To Utah, Perhaps Intrigued With Colorado

Now, if the Pac-10 were dead set on expanding, I think the most logical way to expand it would be to add two prominent schools from another relatively populated Western State with a big metro region that has a high profile college football culture, so that the conference can be symmetrical in it's regional divide, and maintain it's end of the season rivalries. If there were to be a Pac-10 expansion, to me Colorado-Colorado State would be the other logical choice. CU-CSU's fierce and intense natural rivalry would reach a whole new dimension under the glare of the Pac-10. The addition of those two teams would also add Denver as another huge Metropolis TV market in the conference in addition to Seattle, Bay Area, LA, and Phoenix. Still this just an idea since I am not sure whether Colorado or Colorado State meets Pac-10 standards as research institutions.

 BCS Evolution - Dominoes - PAC 10 Edition

Texas and Colorado are included in the assessment, but are ruled unlikely for various reasons. The remaining teams in the PAC 10 footprint are Boise State, BYU, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, SDSU, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah and Utah State.

While Boise State is a solid football program, they have little else to offer. Hawaii is really the only other university worth mentioning.

This leaves us with, BYU, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah and Texas as the serious contenders.

Many more after the jump...

 Coug Center - How Does The Pac-12 Sound To You?

Count me among those fundamentally opposed to expansion, mostly for this reason: The only benefit gained by adding two more schools to the conference is to increase football revenue. I understand football drives the money-making bus in the world of college athletics, through both television contracts and bowl games, but such a move does nothing to enhance the conference in any other meaningful way. Without getting into the long, drawn-out, self-righteous, moralistic reasons for my opposition, I'll just leave it at this: It would undeniably detract from just about everything I love about the set-up of our conference, both in football and in every other sport.

 California Golden Blogs - Soundoff: Is Pac-10 Expansion A Good Idea?

In other words, ESPN would probably be more likely to schedule games for a Pac-12 rather than a Pac-10, there would be opportunities for additional bowls and more plum matchups cross-conference, and put the conference on a more equal footing with its Eastern counterparts. Whether that'd actually happen is another story altogether, but expansion does sound like it could resolve some of these bigger issues.

 Block U - Where There Is Smoke - Utah To The Pac-10?

It's not hard to put two and two together on this one, folks. They're seriously looking at the possibility of expansion and if they were to ever expand, this would be the logical time. 

Not a year from now. Or even a month from now. But today. 

Personally, I doubt we'll hear anything this week. Or next week. Or a month from now. It'll happen one day (I believe). Not this year, though and maybe not next year. 

 OBNUG - Speculation 101: Where Would Pac-10 Expansion Leave Boise State?

It would make sense for the Pac-10 to expand in order to reach the magical 12-team league and conference title game that deep-pocketed TV suitors crave. Currently with 10 teams, speculation has turned to the possible additions of Utah and Colorado to round out the Pac-10 into the Pac-10 Or So. The Utes and Buffs would be chosen, it is presumed, due to their athletic and academic excellence.

BYU may then get invited to the Big XII to take Colorado's place. The Mountain West would be two teams smaller and could then offer an invite to the Broncos and one other team.

 Corn Nation - Conference Re-Alignment Again - Utah and Colorado To The Pac-10?

If the Big 10 takes Missouri and the Pac 10 takes Colorado, where does that leave the Big 12? And where does it leave Nebraska? Before you respond with "big deal, who needs them, let them leave" comments, it'd be best to consider Nebraska's position. We have a very small TV market. While our fan support is better than anyone's, it generates money for our athletic department, not necessarily for the conference. Were both those teams to leave, there is the (small, granted) possibility that the Big 12 might dissolve (stranger things have happened) and Nebraska might find themselves on the outside looking in. 

On the lighter side, if Colorado were to bolt to the Pac-10 would you miss them, or would you want our athletic department to schedule them as a yearly rival so we could beat their butts on a regular basis anyway?