Conquest Chronicles, an USC Trojans community

"The West Coast is the gateway to the Pacific Rim," Scott said. "We've got a lot of student-athletes with Asian roots. Some of our schools have a very high level of brand recognition in Asia and a lot of international interest. I think we're going to be the first collegiate conference to have an international marketing plan."

Like I said earlier, you gotta love Scott's vision...

Tom Hansen Who????

So where does that leave us? Honestly, I don’t know. If Texas is cool with ditching academic and recruiting standards, the SEC is a great choice for them. If they’re cool with frequent long trips to cold weather sites, dealing with a league that’s centered in the Upper Midwest both culturally and practically, and having to either blow their negotiating power with the league to bring A&M and Tech along or fight a nasty battle in the Legislature to ditch one or both, then the Big Ten would work great. And if they’re cool with keeping the status quo and hoping it doesn’t blow up around them, then sticking around the Big XII makes sense. But if none of those options appeal (and they wouldn’t to me), then becoming part of the Pac-16 (or whatever it’d end up being called), seems like the best option to me. As Stewart Mandel said, "it makes too much sense" not to happen.

The Pac 10 has its own identity, and there’s no need to play follow the leader and add a potentially worthless conference championship game to close the regular season. Oklahoma lost that game in 2003, denying them the league championship, and the Sooners still played for a national title. If a conference championship isn’t required to play for the biggest prize, then what’s the point?