This doesn’t have anything to do with government or politics, but . . .
The Star is reporting that the Pac-10 commissioner is considering expanding the conference. I’ve thought for years that it made sense to expand the conference for football – the payoff would be enormous – but that it didn’t make much sense for the other sports, especially basketball.
And while it might make sense for the Pac-10 to expand, it might remain wishful thinking if it doesn’t make sense, or cents, for the new schools.
The new schools would need to be from the far West (west of the Continental Divide or pretty darn close to the east of it), and they would need to have strong athletic programs, both men and women, or at least be good in more than one men’s sport.
Some prospects:
BYU – good in multiple sports, especially football and basketball. But they don’t play on Sunday, so it creates a scheduling headache.
Utah – used to be weak in everything but has developed into a strong mid-major in the past decade in many sports, especially football. Adding Utah and BYU would bring a natural (and existing) rivalry into the conference.
Colorado – Good football team. Not much else. And why would they want to leave the Big-12?
UNLV – Still living in the Jerry Tarkanian afterglow, but the higher profile of the Pac-10 could make UNLV a power in multiple sports. And it’s Vegas, baby.
San Diego State – The home of Marshall Faulk and, um, uh . . . . Marshall Faulk. Should be a West Coast power school. Not sure why it isn’t. Maybe the Pac-10 will give it the cred to keep all that incredible San Diego talent home instead of at USC (Wasn’t some kid named Reggie Bush from the 619?)
Boise State – Just a football team, nothing else.
Fresno State – See Boise State above.
San Jose State – Looked like they might become a player in multiple sports back in the ’90s but they faded in the past decade. Lots of potential, though, including becoming a Stanford rival (same neighborhood).
Gonzaga – Just a basketball team, nothing else (and who wants to make two trips a year to the Palouse? Going to Wazzu is enough)
Wyoming – Though there are more cows than people in Wyoming, the Cowboys have been killin’ it lately in football, basketball.
New Mexico – A comer. And currently ranked 28th in the Learfiled Sport Cup (formerly the Sears Cup) standings. Strong women’s sports teams, not that there is any money to be made with women’s teams.
UC Santa Cruz – they suck at everything, but it’d be fun to write “Wildcats kill Banana Slugs” in a headline a couple three times a year.