Pac-12 Expansion: How the Longhorns and Sooners Would Make West Best

Is the Pac-12 going to add the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys? Rumors are swirling that it will. We may be just a couple weeks away from the Pac-16 becoming a reality.

Let's get right to the issue: What is this going to do to the little guys?

The Utah Utes have a working budget of $29.7 million. The Washington State Cougars work with $38.5 million.

Compare that with the Texas Longhorns budget of $153.5 million and it is easy to see why the Utes and Cougars might be shaking in their boots.

Aside from the budget argument, what about the recruiting angle? How are the Utahs, Washington States and Oregon States supposed to attract recruits away from programs like Oklahoma and Texas?

While all these are legitimate arguments, they don't outweigh the positives for expanding to 16 teams.

If the Pac-12 expands to the Pac-16, it will be the nation's conference. It will add teams that can rival the SEC for the south, while still maintaining its forward-thinking western roots.

Imagine a conference where USC, Texas, Oregon, Oklahoma, Washington, Stanford, Arizona State, Cal, and more all play together. With revenue sharing, that will put big time dollars in the pockets of all the schools—including Utah and Washington State.

The conference would, no doubt, split into two eight-team divisions with the Western Division including Washington, Washington State, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, and Arizona State. The Eastern Division would have USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and potentially Texas Tech.

Both the Pac-16 and the SEC would have eight states represented. But, if this were a presidential election, the Pac-16 would win the Electoral College vote by a score of 138 to 93.

The Pac-16 would have all the power in college football. The SEC would be second place to the new western/southern hybrid conference. Larry Scott would be the Jerry Jones of the college football world.

It would take a while to get used to new rivalries and road games, but it will beautifully usher in the new college football.

Everyone knows college football is about to change big time. For fans of Pac-12 schools, you have the benefit of being the ones instigating the change. The SEC is now just along for the ride.