All eyes on Texas

"The eyes of Texas are upon you" is how the song goes.  But for now its the other way around.  All eyes are on Texas.  The major players in college sports are all making their case for the Texas Longhorns.  The Big 10, the SEC, and the PAC 10 are all trying like mad to bring in what would be a crown jewel to their conferences.
Why Texas?  Its all about the Benjamen's baby.
Texas is the largest university in the nation's second largest state and commands eyeballs in 4 of the top 15 most populous cities.  UT is a powerhouse of revenue and expects to be in the top 25 in every sport.  Not only that, but Texas is a world class university in education as well (read that as, a large and generous alumni base).
Its not the Big 12 fault really,  its just that UT has outgrown the conference.  The haves and the have-nots are further apart in sports than they have ever been.  Texas is making money on its athletic program, the rest of the Big 12..... not so much.  Texas A&M athletics lost $16 mil last year.
If it were up to me I would go to the PAC 10.  Orangebloods has a good story on all this.  Basically, Texas, A&M, TTech, Colorado, OU, and OK St. Would join the existing PAC 10 schools.  With the 6 already mentioned joining Arizona and ASU to form a South West division and the other 8 (USC, UCLA, CAL, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St, Washington, and Washington St) forming a Pacific region.  That's a lot of eyeballs and a lot of dollars (somewhere in the $20 mil to each school range).  Not to mention how great its going to be for the fans.
The other options just don't make a lot of sense for UT.  The SEC doesn't offer much in the way of TV sets.  Where as the Big 10 has the major metro areas, but why give the Big 10 a southern foothold in recruiting?
The fact is that Texas could just go independent if it really wanted to.  There is already some serious talks going on about a UT sports network and Texas had $138 mil in sports revenue last year.  But, I really like the PAC 10 fit.  It seems like 4, 16 team super-conferences are the logical end to all this.  An East Coast(ACC- some Big East), a Midwest (Big 10- some Big 12- Notre Dame), a South East(SEC- some Big East) and a West(PAC 10 - some Big 12).  Sounds like this would simplify the BCS system as well ;) yeah right!
Until it all shakes out Texas will be strutting its stuff and the rumors will be flying in every paper and blog.  I don't think UT is in any rush,  they hold all the cards, and they will make the decision that makes the most sense for them.  I'll still watch the games no matter where they end up.

Thanks for the read.