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<\/p>\nWhile the Pac-10 was ready to swallow the Big 12 South minus Baylor plus Colorado, it was as far “west” as its expansion targets allowed. Even then, when the state of Arizona was in Pacific Time, there would have only been Colorado playing Mountain Time games (remember, no Utah in this version).<\/p>\n
This time around, if the Big 12 is stable, the West Coast is boxed in.<\/p>\n
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Draw one line of up and down Wyoming’s western border through the angle in Arizona’s southern border (about 111\u00b0W), and then another one through the geographical center of the Lower 48<\/a> (98\u00b035’W). (In reality, the University of Arizona is a little east of the west line, but this provides easily spotted reference points.)<\/p>\n Within that expanse are two BCS conference schools: Colorado and Texas Tech.\u00a0There is literally no university left in the western half of the country<\/em> for the Pac-12 to take \u2014 that the Pac-12 would want. You can imagine that Stanford would be the first and loudest “NO” against Boise State, and Cal \u2014 the University of California at Berkeley \u2014 would rather go on a diet of deep-fried butter before associating with BYU. (Ed: What about Hawaii?<\/em> OK, you got me there. But does anyone want a Pac-13?)<\/p>\n No matter who, if anyone, the Big 12 adds, the plane rides will be longer. However, that situation pales when compared to the Pac-12’s geographical predicament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While the Pac-10 was ready to swallow the Big 12 South minus Baylor plus Colorado, it was as far “west” as its expansion targets allowed. Even then, when the state of Arizona was in Pacific Time, there would have only … Continue reading