Jason likes the Big 12; says Arizona is a basketball school. PAC sunshine pumping is generated by Washington State & Oregon State because they have nowhere else to go. Most of the schools prioritize academics over athletics. Utah is very happy where they're at; but any of the schools would sprint to the B1G if invited (duh). Acknowledges PAC snobbery and hubris has led to their current predicament. The new expiration date is media days.
I love the midwest (grew up there), I love mountain region (just spent a week in Utah and travel through Utah/AZ/WY all the time for vacations), and love the west coast (lived there 9 years) so I say this with absolutely no cultural judgement of anybody...
Utah fans who think they fit perfect with west coast schools but have no culture fit with Big 12 are just the strangest people imaginable. I have a feeling they say that but the truth is "We told ourselves we crushed BYU through conference realignment so sharing a conference would be a gut punch to our inflated ego". Telling themselves the Pac 12 is a better culture fit than the Big 12 is just the strangest method of coping. If Cal/Stanford/UCLA/USC had said that I'd get it...the other 8 don't really have any kind of radically different "culture", maybe Washington since it's in the middle of a big metro.
I'm cool with it either way on Utah. Great football over the past 20-25 years but I don't see any reason they should be the bigger program than BYU long term and BYU's already in. Knock yourselves out staying in Pac/MWC but give me a break with the "culture".