Coach Kyle Whittingham piqued some interest just days before his Utah Utes play USC in the inaugural Pac-12 Conference league game, by repeating on the league's weekly coaches call Tuesday his belief that it's "inevitable" that major college football eventually will realign into four "superconferences" with 16 to 18 teams each.

If only his new league had expanded again already, it might be able to boast a better start.

Instead, the inaugural season of the Pac-12 did not exactly get off to a rip-roaring beginning.

Its marquee team fell flat against elite competition, several teams strained to put away overmatched competition — Oregon State actually lost at home to lower-division Sacramento State — and two starting quarterbacks were knocked out with injuries.

All told, the league's teams went 8-4 on the opening weekend, with its best win either USC's narrow escape against Minnesota or Cal's sloppy victory over Fresno State.

Um, Oklahoma?

You sure you can't come right now?

In fairness, Stanford looked about as good as could have been expected, throttling San Jose State in its first game under new coach David Shaw — though it's fair to ask whether the Cardinal would have done any better against LSU than did the Oregon Ducks, who again looked overmatched by an elite defense in a 40-27 loss.

The real focus around the league, though, is whether it will soon expand to 16 teams, with Oklahoma and Texas evaluating their future in the Big 12 Conference in the wake of Texas A&M's potential departure, presumably to the SEC.

Commissioner Larry Scott has said that several schools have "reached out" to the Pac-12 about potentially joining. But the league does not want to expand again — not after finally arranging a championship football game and nailing down the richest broadcast contract in college sports history.

If rival leagues start expanding, though, the Pac-12 might feel compelled to move.

Could it sweep up Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, all trying to flee a crumbling Big 12?

It certainly seems possible, especially considering that's the deal Scott tried to cut last year. And if it happens, consider it just the first step toward the future that Whittingham envisions — and another remarkable turn of fortune for his Utes.

"I'm not saying I'm in favor or against," Whittingham said. "I just see that's where it's heading, and I don't see any way around that. I also see a playoff system being implemented once those superconferences are in place. … It might be as soon as the next couple of years, or maybe three or four years down the road.

"I don't have any inside information," he added. "I'm not sitting on any secret inside scoop. It's just my own feeling. I've felt this way for seven or eight years now, that that is where things are headed, and it's really been accelerated the last year. The landscape of college football is going to change dramatically in the next few years."

mcl@sltrib.com