The Pac-10 is no more.

Right this moment it’s the Pac-11, or – if you’re so inclined – Paco Once.

But there will be a 12th team. The only question is if four more teams join on top of that.

After three decades of standing still the Pac-10 has started moving at breakneck speed. In a December conference commissioner Larry Scott said, “We’re hard-pressed to really see how you improve upon the structure of the Pac-10 as it is with five sets of natural rivals in four states.”

In February Scott said, “We’re looking at (expansion) very seriously.” But talks weren’t supposed to heat up for six to 12 months.

Larry Scott: Sports commissioner or evil genius?

On June 6 the Pac-10 gave Scott “the authority to pursue any possible expansion, while not committing the conference to adding any more schools.” Four days later Colorado was officially a member and the rumors of a 16-school super conference were swirling in full force.

How did we get here? And do we want to go where we’re apparently heading? Let’s break it down.

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Arizona right fielder Steve Selsky was drafted in the 34th round (pick 1,040 overall) of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. That could be great news for the 2011 Wildcats.

The scouts think there were literally one thousand players better than Selsky this year. Logic says he will come back for his junior year, try to improve on this year’s impressive numbers and shoot up the draft boards. When dollar bills show up, however, logic often shuts up.

If Selsky does return the Cats could plug in Bryce Ortega for Rafael Valenzuela at second base and feature a returning letterman at every position. Not a bad place to be.

The only thing better would be for some of the incoming freshman to be so good they jump ahead of the returning players. Here is a look at the UA recruits (from here via here) who were drafted:

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ASU had no trouble running
through its regional.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/
The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats weren’t alone in losing during the opening weekend of the NCAA baseball tournament.

When the dust settled on regional play only two of the Pac-10’s record-setting eight teams were left standing. Here’s how each of the Pac teams fared:

3-0 ASU
3-0 UCLA
3-2 WSU
2-2 Oregon
1-2 ARIZONA
1-2 OSU
0-2 Cal
0-2 Stanford

The bottom line is if you lost twice you went home. The bottom line for the Pac-10 is a disappointing showing.

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The Cats had to hang up their high-fives for the year.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team saw its season end with two losses in three games at the Fort Worth Regional in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

The weekend got off to a good – albeit uncomfortable – start. The Wildcats built a 10-4 lead against Baylor in Friday’s game before the Bears stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the 9th to put a real scare into the guys from Tucson.

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There’s something strange about this year’s college baseball tournament bracket.

West Coast fans will see a lot of familiar fonts this weekend.
Photo by Matt Pavelek/The Arizona Republic

Half of the 16 regionals feature a Pac-10 team.

It is very possible we will never see this again. But at the same time, with the exception of Oregon, each of this year’s Pac-10 participants has been in the tournament within the past two years. Even the odd men out, USC (2005) and Washington (2004), have made recent appearances.

Maybe this is just the result of a good baseball league becoming great.

Here is what each Pac-10 team is up against as it tries to survive and advance:

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