Colorado Wary About Potential Pac 16 Expansion
By Ty Duffy
Colorado left the Big 12 picturing stability, the sweet life and side trips to Napa and Pebble Beach, but, if the Pac 12 expands to 16, the Buffaloes could be returning to cornfields and Applebees. An East-West division alignment would isolate them from the West Coast and would pit them against former foes from the conference they just left. Colorado’s president Bruce Benson isn’t pleased at the prospect.
From The Denver Post
"“One of the reasons – and there are a lot of reasons – we got in the Pac 12 is to play regularly on the West Coast,” Benson said. “When I hear things like East-West divisions, we’re going back to the Big 12 again. I don’t know who’s possibly going, but I sure don’t want to get shorted out of the West Coast.”"
Benson is also concerned about letting just any type of academic school into the conference.
"“I believe that we should have a robust academic atmosphere among all schools in the league,” Benson said. “What schools have cinch courses or gut courses? We don’t have any and never will. The Pac-12 doesn’t. Some Big 12 schools do.”"
What can we gleam from Benson’s comments? The 16-team Super Conference seems like a real threat, but has the whiff of nuclear war about it. Conferences are fearful and ordering ducks just in case, but there’s no veritable interest group pushing for it. The SEC, the Big Ten and the Pac 12 could each conceivably make 16-teams work, but does forming one even make sense? The motivating factor behind realignment is instability, but a heterogeneous 16-team super conference would be less table than the status quo.
A Pac 16 would present a particular difficulty. How do you get every team to the West Coast (specifically Los Angeles) for recruiting? UCLA and USC can’t play every game at home. A foothold in Texas might ameliorate this need, but only somewhat.
Some schools may have trouble finding homes if the Big 12 implodes. The Big 12 works out, in part because of its liberal selection policies. Private schools, public schools and schools that might not be academically rigorous are all fine, provided they play football. It’s the reason the Big 12 could entertain a team such as BYU or Boise State, but it’s also the reason schools such as Oklahoma State and Texas Tech could face a tough time gaining admission to another conference.