The Pac-10's BIggest Hurdle: The Big Love Factor?

University of Colorado has agreed to leave the Big 12 to join the Pac-10 conference. Expansion seems to be imminent.  The Big 12 appears to be crumbling, according to an anonymous Big 12 football coach.  Coach Deepthroat said Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado would join the Pac-10, leaving behind Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Iowa State.  

The potential "Cheeseburger-in-Paradise Conference” would have Whataburger Division, consisting of the Big 12 defectors and Arizona schools and the In-N-Out Division, consisting of USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State.  Besides travel expenses and no TV contract what could possibly stop this from happening everyone seems to forget the state of Utah.

 BYU and Utah have established themselves worthy athletically, as The Utes, which beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2, was the only undefeated team in the 2008 football season.  BYU won the national championship in 1984 and beat Oklahoma last year.

Utah's football team won two Bowl Championship Series games in the past five years, each time capping an undefeated season. In each of the past four seasons, BYU has won 10+ football games and finished the season ranked in the top 25.

Both schools have BCS-caliber football and basketball facilities. Both carry strong basketball programs, with Utah being the 1998 national runner-up and BYU having won at least a share each of the last three MWC regular-season titles.

Also, academically it seems like a good match, as BYU and Utah have very high admissions requirements.  The Pac-10 carries itself as an academically superior conference, however US News and World report rankings suggest a clear divide between the two schools, Utah at 126 and BYU at 71.

However, there is baggage.  

Remember that Utah's Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, is looking into the Sherman Antitrust Act to determine if a conspiracy exists to keep non-BCS teams like the University of Utah out of the championship game.   BYU also carries the stigma of its role in California's Prop. 8 referendum (publicly against gay marriage).   Although it has a heavy LDS presence, Utah doesn't carry the political baggage BYU does, but both universities are willing to litigate.

Texas and Texas A&M are to meet Thursday to discuss the future of their athletic programs and the Big 12, and DeLoss Dodds is on the record that he wants to keep the Big 12 together.  Even if Texas tries to bolt for the Pac-10, I foresee a long litigious future before anything is final.