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Originally Posted by Prodigal Son
I don't think so. I think there's just an assumption that Texas and its surrounding schools will receive (and accept) a Pac-10 invite. But there are major hangups with that, primarily the distance involved for non-revenue sports. What women's field hockey team wants to travel from Austin, TX (U of Texas) to Seattle (U of Washington)? That's over 2200 miles, or a 4-5 day round trip on a bus. And Oregon isn't much closer. Everyone would have to fly everywhere. And if UT football ever struggles, the athletic department would be hemorrhaging funds.
Texas to the Pac 10 is impractical for every reason outside of football. It'll still probably happen, but I'll believe it when I see it.
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It's not just an assumption. The invite is already promised by Pac-10, and if you believe Chip Brown, who has been pretty accurate throughout all this, that everybody other than Texas A&M has decided to join Pac-10. If Texas A&M doesn't join, they'll get Utah or Kansas instead.
For the other issues you are describing, I think the solution is already pretty obvious. Pac-10 already said it's going to be two divisions that might not even have a conference football championship game between the two divisions. So for all practical purposes it's really two conferences that are creating a TV network together. There isn't really going to be many minor sports teams traveling from Texas to Washington kind of issue.
It's pretty common for minor sports teams to form leagues separately from the football and basketball conferences anyway. San Diego State soccer is in Pac-10.