No, the Pac-12 is not expanding -- and Houston is not going there

Houston's vice president did indeed meet with the Pac-12 commissioner, just not for the reasons you might think

Expansion nuts -- especially Houston expansion nuts -- can stand down.

Houston isn't going to the Pac-12 unless there is something Cougars athletic director Hunter Yurachek doesn't know.

Twitter exploded Monday with a report that Yurachek had met with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott.

The meeting did indeed happen last month. But the misguided assumption was that the meeting took place so Houston could promote itself for admission into the Pac-12. One problem: The Pac-12 isn't expanding.

"There was no pitch or anything," Yurachek said. "There's no substance to that [report] at all."

The AD said he had the idea to pick Scott's brain so he scheduled a stop to San Francisco on his way to the NCAA Track and Field Championships last month in Eugene, Oregon.

"I emailed his office. He agreed to meet me and spent 30 or 45 minutes with me. I had never met Larry Scott in my life."

Yurachek was merely interested in meeting a major power broker in college athletics. The former Coastal Carolina AD replaced Mack Rhoades at Houston in April 2015.

Interestingly, the news literally broke as Rhoades was being introduced as Baylor's new athletic director in Dallas.

"Larry told me they're not interested in expanding," Yurachek said. "He said, 'I had to pull teeth just to get them to add Colorado and Utah.'"

The Pac-12 made a couple of pushes to add Big 12 teams -- most notably Texas and Oklahoma -- in 2010 and 2011. Most recently, Houston has been mentioned as an expansion candidate in the Big 12. However, the league is not expanded to add any teams this year.

But the faux news certainly didn't hurt Houston a day before Big 12 presidents are expected to discuss expansion during a Tuesday meeting in Dallas.

"Give me a call if you get us into the Big 12," Yurachek joked.