Posted by What would have happened if the PAC-10 expansion had happened in 2010 instead of 2011? My guess is that it would have been a letdown – Oregon vs. a Utah with several additional losses on their record.
Let’s examine the hypothetical standings *with newly-added Colorado & Utah’s in-conference records…
North Division
- Oregon (9-0)
- Stanford (8-1)
- Washington (5-4)
- Oregon State (4-5)
- California (3-6)
- Washington State (1-8)
South Division
- Utah (7-1)*
- USC (5-4)
- Arizona State (4-5)
- Arizona (4-5)
- UCLA (2-7)
- Colorado (2-6)*
Now, my guess is that Utah wouldn’t have fared so well in the PAC-12 as they did in the Mountain West. My guess is that they’d finish near 5-4.
So, 9-0 Oregon would have been forced to play a 5-4 team for the PAC-12 Championship. Who wants to watch that? Plus, what happens when Oregon gets upset? An un-ranked team (ala Connecticut) gets a BCS berth!?
This situation won’t happen every year (luckily), but in the years it does, I won’t be watching.