Would be great to go back in time without saboteurs and morons in charge and to get SMU, Houston, SDSU, and maybe one other school from the Mountain West or elsewhere, and been on offense in an intelligent way after USC and UCLA bailed. That ship sailed and now these schools are the best of what are left. Decent brands, academics, and markets. That's about it.
There's a fundamental choice at play between staying regional (better for travel, potentially better natural rivalries, can be sold as more friendly to student-athletes, which it really would be, etc.) or going more national and getting some of the better brands. The latter is sexier in some regards but not by much since these schools don't bring a ton to the table and we lose the ability to pitch the Pac-12 in all of those former regards. Yes, being more national and having some other markets has some benefits, but there are costs. Then you also just have to account for the lack of other candidates out west, too. Slim pickings and difficult choices.