If at some point (say, perhaps, after they are left out of the playoff again) school presidents DO decide to expand, there is no need to make any announcement, no public dog-and-pony show, and no need to gather data on potential candidates. Instead, they just pick two schools, work out the details behind closed doors, and make the announcement. As has been discussed ad nauseam on CB, I think BYU fares much better in that scenario where it's a done deal before the activists and student newspapers have any opportunity to get up on their soap box and lobby against BYU.