Utah receives an invite from the Pac-10

Its not a surprise in the least, but today we got word that Utah will, in fact, be the 12th team invited into the Pac-10 conference. The two schools are schedule to join the conference for the 2012 season, but many expect Utah and Colorado to push for inclusion beginning in 2011.

Now that that is over, the next logical question becomes how does the Pac-12 split up their conference? Well, we may have gotten that answer from the Denver Post this afternoon:

Playing in a south division instead of a north with the Bay Area, Oregon and Washington schools was a must for Colorado to accept an invitation. Its largest out-of-state alumni base is in southern California.

"That is a huge boost for us," [Colorado athletic director Mike] Bohn said. "The southern division for the University of Colorado provides many opportunities that are keys to reaching our alumni to our recruiting and to enhance media exposure that connects best to the Denver market."

So there you have it. The Pac-10/Pac-12 North is going to consist of Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Stanford, and Cal. The Pac-10/Pac-12 South will be Colorado, Utah, USC, UCLA, Arizona, and Arizona State.

The only quirk left to figure out is the schedule. For basketball, the Pac-10 had arguably the most beautiful conference schedule. 10 teams each with a logical regional traveling partner. 18 conference games, with each team playing a double round robin. It just worked so perfectly.

With 12 teams in two divisions, the conference has two choices as far as I can tell. They can do what the SEC does, playing each team within their division in a home-and-home, while rotating between home and away for the interdivisional games.

But that is only 16 games. If they want to keep it at 18, then every three years, the league will rotate who makes an interdivisional home-and-home trip. This second method would actually work out better. When Pac-10 schools travel, they travel with partners. So, for example, the way it has worked is that on a Thursday, Oregon will play at Washington while Oregon State plays at Washington State. On Saturday, they switch, and Oregon heads to Washington State with Oregon State will play at Washington.

With the 16 game format, some teams would be forced to play nine road games while others got nine home games, unless the league did away with travel partners. In the 18 game format, that number could be balanced out. For example, the Arizona schools would play a home-and-home with the Washington schools, take a road trip to the Oregon school, and then play host to the Bay Area schools.

Anyway, worrying about all of that is a long way off. Conference play with Utah and Colorado included won't for at least another 18 months.

The important thing is that -- at least for the time being -- conference realignment seems to have finally come to a close ...

For now.