Colorado, ASU/Arizona, Utah......
Cincinnatti, UCF, BYU......
All good places for trips and Golf.
Washington would be great for their wine country and Golf.... but Seattle is not near as nice or safe as it was 4 years ago.
Oregon.......Ehhhhhh - A Bunch of libs
UConn....... who cares?!!
If we are basing conference additions for vacation hotspots, then lets add Hawaii while we are at it. Otherwise, this is dumb. Also the entire PNW is a gorgeous area as much as any other place.
Bottom line, you want brand value and money in the conference. Oregon is the big get you want at all cost, then Washington and Arizona. I don't care if Oregon and Washington bolt for the Big 10 in a few years, they provide security, value, and prestige to the Big 12 immediately. Plus, by the time they leave, the ACC might be blowing up for new teams to come on the market. You are leaving money on the table otherwise, just because you think they aren't going to stay for long.
UConn is thrown around a lot because Yormark has a strong belief that college hoops are undervalued and that would also get the conference into the New York market. I think the intent is anticipating that conferences will start negotiating media deals for basketball separate from football, making more money for the conferences with the strongest basketball programs.
Big 12 in no way can compete on a brand value basis with the Big 10 or the SEC in football, so having the strongest basketball media deal would be most effective in closing that gap. If that's the strategy, then Arizona and UConn are huge programs to add to that end.