(07-02-2013 05:49 PM)nzmorange Wrote:  

(07-02-2013 05:40 PM)jrj84105 Wrote:  Kudos for the Zipper-Pod hybrid for conference scheduling. Using your teams (not that those are really great), the PAC pods would be ASU/AZ/TTU/OkSU and SDSU/UU/BYU/BSU to maximize WAC/MWC history and give the latter pod one recruiting foothold.

I'm feeling confident about TTech and Oklahoma State.

It's the two of BYU, SDSU, and BSU that I am less sure of. BYU has the best history, money, national name, rivalries (i.e. with Utah), and academics out of the 3, as well as decent basketball, but it also has a religious affiliation, which is a big no no in the Pac, so I hear. BSU has the best current team, but the weakest history, basketball and academics out of the three. SDSU has a respectable team, a pretty good basketball program, and a great location, but I'm not sure that the other Cali school would want the added competition in southern Cal. That said, the state might see it as a way of raising funds, and strong arm Cal and UCLA into supporting SDSU's bid.

I don't see any other strong programs out west, and there are two slots, so I would imagine that it would have to be two of those three.

What did you have in mind?

If the worst case scenario for the PAC came to be (forced expansion without UT) then I'm not sure what direction things would go. For cultural and academic fit, you have very few large VH level research institutions out West: Hawaii, UNM, CSU, and Houston being the ones to come to mind. None of TTU, OkSU, BYU, SDSU, or BSU fit this profile. I actually think Hawaii and UNM would have as good of a chance if not a better chance than TTU, OkSU, BYU, Boise, and SDSU in this worst case scenario.