I believe it is.  First, if there’s a time to expand, it’s now before the TV contracts are renegotiated.  The Pac 10’s current deal with Fox Sports Net hasn’t paid many dividends, as the Pac 10 lags behind other major conferences in revenue by a substantial margin and has weak national exposure due to the limited reach of Fox Sports compared to CBS, ESPN, or NBC.  The Pac 10 could make a big contract with one of the major networks more appealing if it spices up the appeal of the conference with more money.  Plus expansion would give the Pac 10 a conference championship game, which would have great TV ratings and generate more conference revenue.

Second, there are a number of schools that are reportedly interested and would be a natural fit for the conference.  One set of rumors has Colorado and Utah heading to the Pac 10, which would improve the conference’s football competitiveness.  The comments of Colorado’s AD indicates that Colorado could be amenable to leaving, and Utah would likely like an opportunity to actually play for a BCS title game instead of being relegated to secondary BCS bowls with all its success.  An even better fit for the conference would be to add BYU and Utah, which would be great for football, good for basketball given BYU’s recent success, and create a natural rivalry between two in state foes.   The remaining names being floated around are Boise State, obviously great for football,  Texas, which would be huge for ratings and revenue, and TCU, another big football addition.  I’d say the Texas schools are a long shot given the lack of regional proximity, and Boise St. is a possibility, though not as likely as the Utah schools, given the rivalry possibilities.

Finally, the Pac 10 has the leadership in place to get expansion done.  Clearly Scott and Weilberg were brought in to shake things up in the Pac 10 and boost the profitability of the conference.  Weilberg set up the Big 10 network and brought the Big Ten even greater national exposure, while Scott has experience in professional tennis.  The hiring of Scott and Weilberg has to indicate the Pac 10 is serious about making some money and will listen what these guys have to say.  The Pac 10 brought these guys in to shake things up in the conference and drive up revenue, and with the frequency with which expansion has been mentioned it’s clearly on Scott and Weilberg’s minds.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the Pac-10 becoming the  Pac-12 very soon.

Washington also has the potential to be respectable and make it in. Washington started out strong at 10-2, but has lost 3 games in Pac 10 play. Washington has a good core who plays fast, and just needs to right the ship. Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas could easily get things together and put a run together at seasons end.

USC has been playing well, including beating recent- number 1 topping Tennesee , but will be unable to enter the tournament due to self imposed sanctions by the University for recruiting violations realted to OJ Mayo. While that may deflate the number of teams that can make the tournament in the Pac 10, it means the conference isn’t as bad as the voters think.

However, all that being said, the rest of the conference is pretty damn lackluster. The nonconference schedule was brutual for the Pac 10. The conference’s best win outside of USC’s beatdown of Tennessee is Washington’s victory over Texas A&M, ranked 35 in the current RPI. That’s not pretty compared to years past. While the Pac 10 undoubtably looks way worse than usual, I’ll guarantee that at least 2 teams end up in the dance, with at least 1 in the sweet 16.