Expansion might sound great, but it won’t move the needle for Pac-12

Expansion sounds interesting. Adding members conveys the image of getting stronger, becoming bigger. Yet, at this point, expansion really doesn’t add all that much for the Pac-12.

A merger with another conference, on the other hand, comes far closer to meeting the Pac-12’s current set of needs.

Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline explains how limited an expansion plan and expansion targets would be for the Pac-12:

1. There are no obvious options, no schools that would add significant financial or competitive value.

When the Big 12 expanded last fall following the Pac-12’s decision to not raid the league, it had four easy answers in BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston.

The Pac-12 has no equivalents, in part because of the paucity of major college football programs in the western half of the country.

2. The great unknown is whether the 10 remaining presidents and chancellors will consider schools that never would have cleared the bar in prosperous times.

Will they invite universities that were once deemed unfit for membership on academic, religious, geographic or political grounds?

If the presidents are flexible, Kliavkoff has intriguing options as he plunges into valuation discussions with ESPN and Fox.