The Big Ten's move to expand could set off a chain reaction that forever shifts the landscape of college athletics. But the other conference possibly looking to invite members, the Pac-10, isn't waiting for the minds in the Midwest to make themselves up before it makes a move.

"I don't know when the Big Ten might decide what they're going to do, but it's not going to affect our timing," Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott told the Boulder Daily Camera. "We could very well decide before they decide. They might decide before us. I don't know and I don't think it matters in terms of what we're going to do."

Scott repeatedly declined to comment specifically on schools or hypothetical situations, but Big 12 member Colorado is among a handful of schools mentioned as candidates for Pac-10 membership.

Scott sees the Big Ten's activity as independent of the Pac-10's, but an early move by the Big Ten could change that quickly.

"I don't see what the Big Ten does that is going to tangibly affect us or our analysis of options," Scott said. "It may be different for other conferences or schools, but we're looking at expansion to the extent it could add value for our conference, and that really hasn't changed."

Any concrete expansion talks are still premature, and any talk of SEC expansion has been reactionary to other conference's possible moves, but if Texas eventually fields overtures from the SEC, the Big 12 could be the only major conference being pulled in three separate directions.