With Texas A&M leaving the Big XII for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), some experts are predicting another round of conference realignment and expansion. With the SEC at an asymmetrical 13 teams, they are largely expected to add an Eastern school such as Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida State or Louisville in order to maintain balance in their two divisions. This could trigger the other conferences in a position of strength (PAC-12 and Big Ten) to add schools to keep up with the SEC\’s number. However, the sense of urgency does not seem like it is at the level it was in the summer of 2010. For this reason, it is quite possible that the PAC-12 and Big Ten will not immediately add teams. They may even wait five or more years before the next round of expansion.

The PAC-12\’s geography puts it in a difficult position. The current schools are well clustered along the West Coast and Mountain Time Zones. There are three strong conferences that are under no threat of losing members and are well-positioned to add schools from other BCS and non-BCS conferences: the SEC, PAC-12 and Big Ten. However, the schools that are most likely to be targeted by the strong conferences are along the East Coast and Mid-West. These would include schools in the Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big XII, as well as the major independents Notre Dame and BYU.

The Big East and ACC schools are so far away that they are out of the question. Big XII schools that could be added do include Texas and Oklahoma. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State do not add anything to the PAC-12 but might be given a bid if necessary to get their state\’s flagship school on board. For Texas to come on board, their Longhorn Network would need to be scrapped or significantly diminished; which isn\’t likely in the short run. Oklahoma by itself would be a total geographic and cultural outlier with virtually nothing in common with the existing members; while much weaker football programs, Missouri, Kansas, and Kansas State would be even more out of place.

The SEC is ideally positioned to add whatever schools it chooses, be it from the Big XII (Missouri, Oklahoma State, etc.), ACC (Virginia, Virginia Tech, etc.), or Big East (West Virginia, Louisville, etc.) The Big Ten could also choose from some of these schools, although you have a geographic proximity problem once you get beyond the North schools of the Big XII and certain Big East schools like Connecticut and Pittsburgh.

Because super-conference expansion might be five years off, the PAC-12 would be well-served to telegraph to the certain Mountain West schools that they have a shot at membership. In order to be considered, they need to raise and invest a tremendous amount of capital in their football programs and they need to become extremely competitive on the field, like recent BCS busters TCU and Boise State.

Unlike your traditional Midwestern and Southern college towns, the PAC-12 has a more urban footprint with schools located in or very close to major cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Boise State, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico and Hawaii also are located in or extremely close to major Western cities (Boise, Reno, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Honolulu). Accepting the fact that all major conferences, even super-conferences will be regional, selecting some combination of these schools will give corporate sponsors and advertisers a way to target customers in a tight geographic footprint. This will appeal to advertisers that are willing to pay to market to customers in Western states, but reluctant to pay significantly more to get some exposure to an outlier state where they may have no stores or where they employ a different marketing strategy. On top of that, basketball and Olympic sports will benefit student-athletes from a cost perspective and ability to perform on the field and in the classroom with less jet lag and more convenient major city destinations to fly to.

Copyright Donald Plunkett. Build your own PAC-16 lineup of football helmets at http://www.footballhelmets.com .

Copyright Donald Plunkett. Build your own PAC-16 lineup of football helmets at http://www.footballhelmets.com.

Author Bio: Copyright Donald Plunkett. Build your own PAC-16 lineup of football helmets at http://www.footballhelmets.com .

Category: Sports
Keywords: football helmets,PAC-16,PAC-12,boise state,hawaii,nevada,unlv