I agree. I'm not saying there is NO appeal in the PAC12. And they definitely have something to offer.
I'm just saying that geography is also their greatest downfall. If their schools switched places geographically with the Big12, Big10, or ACC even, they'd get more coverage. And if those other schools moved to western timezones, they would lose some of the coverage/cachet they have too.
I think the time zone helps the PAC12 because they're the only game in town. It also hinders, because it's a much smaller town.