Happy Friday from Las Vegas.

Michael from LA writes: What's your take on Texas and Texas A&M to the Pac-10 -- Washington's athletic director thinks it's going to happen.

Ted Miller: You are referring to Scott Woodward's comments during a Huskies basketball game.

Talked to Woodward about this and he said he was just speculating with a reporter. He told me he had no inside information, and a Pac-10 official told me there's -- as of yet -- no substantive inside information to try to break out of captivity.

Woodward is a fan of expansion, though, in large part because he believes the present trajectory of big-time college football requires it."I'm glad, as a conference, we are being proactive this time," he said.

Now, as for Texas and Texas A&M: I'd call that a home run -- a grand slam! -- but that wouldn't do it justice.

Bringing that pair in would instantly make the Pac-10 the nation's preeminent conference. And, yes, that includes the SEC.

Before we go further, two words: HUGE LONGSHOT. Now that we've covered that...

Why would Texas and Texas and Texas A&M be so super-awesome? Well, you mean other than adding 25 million eyeballs watching Pac-10 football? You mean other than cornering the market on the nation's two most populous states? Or adding the fourth and 16th biggest stadiums in the nation?

Let's leave the finances to the accountants. Think of it like this.

• You'd bring in another marquee rivalry pair into the conference.
• You'd bring in one-half of the rivalry game with Oklahoma (guess here is the arrangement would go 50-50 with the Pac-10 and OU, just like USC-Notre Dame).
• You'd bring in a perennial national title contender.
• You'd bring in two programs that are good fits as institutions.
• You'd bring in one of the nation's best college towns (Austin) and one of the best game-day atmospheres (Kyle Field at A&M).
• You'd bring in Texas recruiting, though the Longhorns probably wouldn't yield much ground at the top if they already haven't in the Big 12.
• And, as an afterthought, anyone think USC-Texas would an appealing TV game?

Do I think it's going to happen? No. But to paraphrase David Wooderson from "Dazed and Confused": It'd be a lot cooler if it did.

Jon from Tulalo, Ore., writes: If SC is nailed with loss of TV, bowls, etc. what affect do you think this will have on possible expansion and a new TV deal? The PX is not going to get a better TV deal without the bell cow in the mix.

Ted Miller: The Pac-10's TV and media contracts expire after the 2011-12 academic year. It's unlikely a potential TV and bowl ban for USC would extend beyond the next two seasons.

Guess here is it's not an issue because it's going to be a long-term TV contract and the Trojans long-term prospects are good.

Rex from Palo Alto writes: I was pleased (and not surprised) to see Toby as your No. 1 Pac-10 player, but I was surprised that you didn't find a place in the Top 30 for Kai Forbath, UCLA's winner of the Lou Groza Award for the best kicker in the country. What, no love for kickers?

Ted Miller: Let's put it this way. Pick any player on the top-30 list. Now, give his team an average kicker. Would you then trade that top-30 player for an elite kicker, such as Forbath?

I'd say no, though some folks would say yes.

Those folks didn't make the Pac-10 blog's list.

Matt from Portland writes: Hey, is that a Green Lantern Poster on your office wall? Who do you think lasts longer at their schools (for possibly very different reasons) Sark at UW, Kiffin at USC or Kelly at OU?

Ted Miller: Matt! That's Captain Seattle and his loyal mate Raindrop! Bought the poster at Pikes Place Market just after I'd moved to Seattle in 1999.

I'd say Chip Kelly at Oregon, though I don't think any are obvious short-timers. I don't see Kelly as an NFL coach and I think there are only a small handful of BCS conference jobs that would temp him to bolt. And I don't think he will get fired.

My guess is Steve Sarkisian will lead Washington to a Rose Bowl (or two) and then will get lured away by an NFL team.

While I wouldn't be surprised if Lane Kiffin stayed at USC for a long time, he doesn't have much of a track record on which to base a prediction of stability.

Stephanie from Nampa, Idaho writes: Ted, I'm so excited Bill Moos is coming to WSU! Have you ever seen a search go the way this one did? My hat is off to President Floyd for simply doing what was obvious and what everyone wanted, and not doing the traditional and political "nation wide" window dressing search. Could this possibly be the start of a long overdue trend in the NCAA?

Ted Miller: I wish, but no.

For one, most programs won't have an obvious fan favorite choice -- particularly for an AD position -- as WSU did.

What I loved was how open Washington State was about its intentions. It announced that Moos was the school's first choice to become the new athletic director. It announced his interview. It announced he'd been offered the job.

And now the Cougars are riding a run of positive publicity after Jim Sterk unexpectedly bolted.

But, again, no, other schools won't follow that lead when it comes to coach and AD hiring. They'll try to be sneaky. They will overthink things. They will waste money on those ridiculous search firms. They'll dissemble about who the actual top candidates were after-the-fact -- or who was offered the job when the third choice is hired.

Old habits are hard to break.

Lincoln from Sherwood, Ore., writes: Any update on the proposed OSU-TCU game in September? Thanks.

Ted Miller: Nervous that neither school lists the game on its 2010 schedule yet?

Bottom line: It's going to happen on Sept.4. Both programs have game contracts. Both have toured Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

And, yes, sometimes getting the final pen-to-paper takes a long time.

Daniel from Torrance, Calif., writes: On your transfers list you forgot to mention Ryan Bass leaving ASU to go to Idaho. He was a highly touted recruit, an electric playmaker and had the best talent out of the ASU backs but he couldn't hold on to the ball.

Ted Miller: That list only included impact transfers for the 2010 season. Bass won't be eligible to play for Idaho until 2011.

Tyler from Mountain View, Calif., writes: I was fascinated by the attendance breakdown of the various Pac-10 schools. You always end up hearing how much more passionate the friendly fans are southeast of us, hence the higher turnout... but I don't know if I buy that. I got to thinking, do you think the attendance gap could be attributed to the relative distance between schools, so opposing attendance doesn't turn out as easily? It seems to me its a much longer drive up the west coast than around the cozy little corner down south.It would be interesting if schools reported both home/away ticket sales, to get some idea of how much distance affects turnout.

Ted Miller: Every program has nutty, ardent fans.

The most maniacal Oregon, Arizona and California fans -- etc. -- are every bit the match of any program.

But having covered both the SEC and Pac-10, the attendance figures represent a reality: There are substantially more maniacal fans in the SEC than in the Pac-10.

(Stadium size or fan dedication, however, doesn't always correlate to the quality of the team).

As for distances between teams hurting overall attendance numbers in the Pac-10, programs only allot a small number of tickets for away fans in any event. So the difference in a 90,000-seat stadium and a 55,000-seat stadium is almost entirely about local fans.

I remember an SEC athletic director talking to me about trying to remain a "hard ticket"-- i.e., it wasn't easy to buy a ticket at face value. At 80,000-plus, it was "hard" to find a ticket for his team's games. He was explaining why he didn't think his stadium should expand to the 90,000 benchmark.

No Pac-10 team would be a "hard" ticket in a 90,000-seat stadium.

A better explanation than geography is demographics: The Pac-10 is mostly a big-city conference. There are so many other ways to spend entertainment dollars in LA, the Bay Area, Seattle, Phoenix and Portland, including pro sports teams.

For example, when Washington, which -- along with Oregon -- has the most SEC-ish of Pac-10 fans, spun into the toilet for a spell, folks could satisfy their football jones with the then-rising Seahawks.

That's not the case in most of the SEC. For example, just about every Alabama native takes a side in the Iron Bowl, and their focus on that game is singular. If you, a West Coast dude, ever attended an Iron Bowl you'd go, "Gosh. This. Is. Really. Intense. And nuts."

Think of last year's Civil War for the Roses, only on an annual basis.

Again, it doesn't mean the football quality is better. But an average of 76,288 fans speaks for itself in terms of measuring passion.