CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAC-(CROSSED OFF 10) 12 WILL IT FOLLOW ACC AND RECONFIGURE?

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

The news side-swiped Big East Conference commissioner Mike Tranghese in devastating fashion and his conference hasn't recovered. In back rooms on Tobacco Road, unbeknownst to him, the University of Miami was leading a defection that would change the landscape of college athletics.

When everything settled, Miami and Virginia Tech, the two most powerful programs in the conference, had announced their move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. And it forced every other conference re-examine itself - and its future.

In the last decade or so, nearly every major conference has undergone some form of transition, either through expansion or re-alignment.

That is, every conference except the Pacific-10. Not since Arizona State and Arizona joined in 1978 has the Pac-10 changed.

Yet, in the big-money world of college football, where conference- championship games mean tens of millions of dollars to a league each year, can the Pac-10 survive over the long term in its current state?

``I'm sure all conferences are looking at the landscape because of what happened last summer,'' said retired Southeastern Conference commissioner Roy Kramer, who created the Bowl Championship Series. ``The Big Ten survives with 11 teams and without a championship game. The Big 12 thrives with a championship game.''

The Pac-10 and its schools believe the current layout works and expressed as much over the summer, when the athletic directors met with Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen to discuss the impact of the ACC expanding from nine to 11 teams for the 2004 season.

``We've determined that we are not going to be directly or indirectly affected by what happens in the ACC or the Big East,'' Hansen said. ``In addition, our members are very comfortable with our configuration and have no desire to change. We have not discussed expansion.''

However, former Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson believes it might be wise for the Pac-10 to keep the idea of expansion in mind.

Erickson's rationale dates back to 2000, when the Beavers were a top-10 team but nearly were nearly left out of the BCS picture because of college football politics and the perceived lack of drawing power of Oregon State. He said the Pac-10's shaky stature in the eyes of the BCS and college football played into the difficulty the Beavers had before they were invited to the Fiesta Bowl.

It is widely accepted the Pac-10 has the least-favorable bowl affiliations of the major conferences. Outside of a BCS game - the Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar bowls - Pac-10 teams have contractual ties to the Holiday, Sun, Insight, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley bowls.

``We always talked about helping ourselves,'' said Erickson, now the San Francisco 49ers coach. ``Our talks were to get in a better alignment bowl-wise. But I think they're going to continue to believe in the Pac-10. I'm talking about the (school) presidents. They like what they have. I don't see that changing at all. I'm not saying that is good or bad.''

The Pac-10 considered another round of expansion in the early 1990s, but brief interludes with Texas and Colorado died quickly and quietly. And with that, the conference lost perhaps the two best schools based on academics and athletics positioned to make the move.

Now, Texas and Colorado are ensconced in the Big 12, which plays host to the lucrative Big 12 championship each December that rakes in $6 million to $8 million.

The SEC championship game in Atlanta dwarfs that. The 2001 game earned $1 million for each school and generated $46 million in revenue for the city, according to the Atlanta Sports Council. The 2002 projection was $25.7 million for the city.

So important is a conference-title game in the eyes of some leagues that the ACC asked the NCAA for a waiver to stage one. Currently, a conference must have 12 teams to host a championship game, and the ACC is composed of 11 teams. If the request is granted, the Big Ten, which grew to 11 teams when it added Penn State, also would be able to stage a game.

Less tangible is the how much tighter divisional races within the conference helps in the way of revenue from television and attendance.

``In the SEC, (expansion) heightened the interest in the regular season because we had two races for the conference championship,'' said Kramer, who brought Arkansas and South Carolina into the conference. ``When you do that, you increase fan interest.''

But with Texas and Colorado seemingly out of the picture, there are no obvious choices to join the Pac-10. The current crop of schools in the region isn't very sexy.

BYU and Utah likely would jump at a chance to join, as would San Diego State, Fresno State and UNLV. Colorado State probably would make the leap, but that wouldn't make sense unless Colorado joined in.

Expansion also would force the conference to split into divisions, which Kramer said would be fine.

``It does have a natural alignment for divisional play with the north and south,'' Kramer said. ``But I would have a hard time recommending to any conference what they should do. It depends on the feeling of where they are, and the marketplace.''

A move to 12 teams also would mean more Pac-10 teams would not face one another in the regular season. Already, many are disappointed that Oregon and USC won't play this season.

``I don't care if we expand the league,'' Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. ``I would rather play nine Pac-10 games a year. Then it would be more about who you do play rather than who you don't play in determining a champion.''

The conference jockeying apparently won't end with Miami and Virginia Tech's decision to leave the Big East. In fact, this might be just the beginning.

Louisville and Cincinnati could be close to leaving Conference USA and joining the Big East, which also might add Marquette for basketball. Meanwhile, Kramer is working as a consultant for East Carolina, which would love to jump to the Big East.

Notre Dame, an independent in football and a member of the Big East for its other sports, could get courted again by the Big Ten.

``Any time there's a shake-up in any conference alignment, it immediately stirs up a sentiment that something needs to happen someplace else,'' UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said. ``That's more of a reactive response to anything than necessarily a strategic approach. I think at this point in time everyone in the conference believes the Pac-10 is solid.

``You never say never about any situation because landscape changes and needs sometimes change, but you also have to look at the context of an extra game, what implications that has for student-athletes. Are there other ways to solve the economic issues and things of that nature?''

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

WHY REALIGN?

The NCAA requires conferences to have 12 teams if they want a title game, which can bring in millions. A look:

Southeastern

Teams: 12

Alignment: Divisional play

Payoff: Each school earned $1 million last season. It's estimated the city of Atlanta, which hosted the title game, brought in $25.7 million.

Big 12

Teams: 12

Alignment: Divisional play

Payoff: The conference took in about $8 million from the title game.

A DOZEN AND CHANGE

The Pacific-10 Conference watched from across the country this summer as the defection of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East to the ACC changed the landscape of college athletics. Could a similar change on the West Coast be in the offing? Here's two configuration out of dozens of possibilities:

NORTH DIVISION

Washington

Washington State

Oregon

Oregon State

Stanford

California

SOUTH DIVISION

UCLA

USC

Arizona

Arizona State

San Diego State

Fresno State

ADDITIONS: San Diego State from Mountain West, Fresno State from Western Athletic

NORTH DIVISION

Washington

Washington State

Oregon

Oregon State

Colorado

Colorado State

SOUTH DIVISION

UCLA

USC

Arizona

Arizona State

Stanford

California

ADDITIONS: Colorado from Big 12, Colorado State from Mountain West

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) WHY REALIGN? (see text)

(2) A DOZEN AND CHANGE (see text)